THE  FINE  ART 
OF 

PHOTO  GRAPH  Y 


L. 


THE  FINE  ART  OF 
PHOTOGRAPHY 


PICTORIAL  PHOTOGRAPHY 
ITS  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE 

BY  PAUL  L.  ANDERSON 

23  illustrations  and  35  diagrams.     8vo.     $2.50  net. 

"A  book  that  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every 
photographer  interested  in  the  pictorial  aspect  of  the 
work.  While  Mr.  Anderson  has  a  keen  appreciation  of 
the  pictorial  possibilities  of  photography,  he  has  a  clear 
grasp  of  the  scientific  principles  upon  which  the  worker 
must  base  his  efforts  if  success  is  to  be  achieved.  The 
book  is  an  exceptionally  informative  one  while  still  being 
most  readable  and  enjoyable." — CAMERA  CRAFT. 

"Especially  adapted  to  the  needs  of  those  workers 
who  without  wishing  to  undertake  a  study  of  the 
scientific  phase  of  the  art,  have  passed  beyond  the 
beginners'  stage  and  are  seeking  through  this  medium 
pictorial  expression." — AMERICAN  MAGAZINE  OF  ART. 


H3H3AMMAH  HT3HAXL13 

woaaaattA  *i  JUAI  Ya 

dqaisoiod^  iolo3  smoiibiH  a  moil 


PORTRAIT  OF  ELIZABETH  HAMMACHER 
BY  PAUL  L.  ANDERSON 
From  a  Hichrome  Color  Photograph 


THE  FINE  ART  OF    • 
PHOTOGRAPHY 


BY 

PAUL  L.  ANDERSON,  E.E. 

AUTHOR  OF  "PICTORIAL  PHOTOGRAPHY:  ITS  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRACTICE 


WITH  FRONTISPIECE  IN  COLOR,  H  REPRODUCTIONS 
OF  PIIOTOGRAPIIS,  AND  17  DIAGRAMS 


PHILADELPHIA  AND  LONDON 
J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 

1919 


FOREWORD 

IN  "  Pictorial  Photography,  Its  Principles 
and  Practice  "  the  author  endeavored  to  pro- 
duce a  textbook  which  should  furnish  technical 
information  to  those  camera  workers  who  de- 
sire to  express  artistic  impulses,  thus  enabling 
them  to  choose  the  best  medium  for  any  par- 
ticular purpose,  and  to  become  skilled  in  its 
use ;  but  the  aim  of  the  present  work  is,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  supplement  the  earlier  book  by 
pointing  out  the  underlying  principles  of  art 
insofar  as  they  can  be  applied  to  photography, 
and  to  encourage  the  student  of  the  subject  to 
apply  these  principles  in  his  own  work. 

Necessarily  this  book  must  differ  in  a  meas- 
ure from  the  former  one  as  regards  plan,  since 
technique,  which  is  entirely  scientific,  can  be  a 
matter  of  rule,  whereas  an  artistic  impulse, 
being  purely  of  the  mind  and  dealing  with 
intangible  things,  cannot  be  reduced  to  a  for- 
mula. Photography  is  unique  among  the 
graphic  arts  in  that  it  is  absolutely  imperative 

that  scientific  knowledge  and  artistic  feeling 

7 


FOREWORD 

go  hand-in-hand  to  the  production  of  a  fine 
result;  and,  though  scientific  knowledge  may 
be  acquired  by  rote,  artistic  feeling  must  result 
from  observation,  from  meditation,  from  the 
use  of  the  logical  faculties,  and  above  all  from 
the  exercise  of  the  imagination.  It  has  been 
the  author's  endeavor  to  present  the  conclu- 
sions, reached  through  many  years  of  study,  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  reader  may  be  stimu- 
lated to  apply  his  mental  powers  to  the  task  of 
seeing  and  thinking  for  himself,  since  only  thus 
can  lasting  and  valuable  works  of  art  be  pro- 
duced, and  only  thus  can  photography  take 
its  rightful  lofty  place  among  the  fine  arts. 

There  is  in  this  country  a  widespread  predi- 
lection in  favor  of  what  may  be  termed  tabloid 
or  predigested  information,  this  predilection 
arising  from  an  unfortunate  belief  that  one 
who  has  memorized  a  large  number  of  facts  is 
ipso  facto  educated.  The  author  cannot  too 
strongly  impress  upon  the  reader  the  fact  that 
this  belief  is  utterly  erroneous;  true  education 
comes  only  from  observation  and  logical  cor- 
relation of  the  observed  phenomena.  There 
are  no  rules  in  art. 

8 


FOREWORD 

The  author's  thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  Henry 
R.  Poore,  for  permission  to  make  use  of  the 
conclusions  set  forth  by  him  in  his  exceedingly 
valuable  work,  "  Pictorial  Composition  and 
the  Critical  Judgment  of  Pictures  " ;  to  Mr. 
Bertrand  H.  Wentworth  for  the  admirable 
discussion  of  marine  photography  given  in 
Chapter  IX;  and  to  the  photographers  who 
have  so  kindly  furnished  the  prints  which  have 
been  used  to  illustrate  the  text  and  to  embel- 
lish the  book,  but  especially  to  Mr.  Eilers, 
whose  "Summer  Landscape"  has  been  used 
without  permission,  the  author  having  been 
unable  to  get  in  touch  with  tliis  artist. 

In  view  of  the  conditions  existing  at  the  time 
of  writing,  and  in  order  to  forestall  any  pos- 
sible criticism  by  patriotic  reviewers  or  readers, 
it  seems  well  to  state  that,  although  there  are 
several  German-sounding  names  included  in 
the  list  of  artists  who  have  furnished  illustra- 
tions for  this  work,  none  of  these  photog- 
raphers is  in  fact  German.  The  writer  is  not 
altogether  in  sympathy  with  the  idea  of  con- 
demning indiscriminately  all  members  of  a 

nation  because  that  nation  has  shown  itself, 

9 


FOREWORD 

collectively,  incapable  of  appreciating  the 
higher  ideals  which  animate  the  civilized  peo- 
ples, any  more  than  he  is  prepared  to  condemn 
a  family  because  some  member  of  that  family 
has  proved  a  criminal ;  but  the  fact  remains  that 
this  book  is  written  for  American  and  English 
readers  and  that  the  German  attitude  of  mind 
is  such  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  illustra- 
tions from  the  work  of  German  photographers 
which  would  be  of  interest  or  value  to  the  read- 
ers to  whom  the  author  wishes  to  appeal.  The 
bearers  of  German  names  whose  pictures  are 
here  reproduced  are  actually  either  American 
or  English  by  birth  and  sympathy. 

P.  L.  A. 

EAST   ORANGE,,  N.   J.,    1919. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  INTRODUCTORY 15 

II.  COMPOSITION 32 

III.  VALUES 71 

IV.  SUGGESTION  AND  MYSTERY 90 

V.  LANDSCAPE  WORK 101 

VI.  WINTER  WORK 127 

VII.  LANDSCAPE   WITH   FIGURES;    FIGURES   IN 

LANDSCAPE;  GENRE;  ILLUSTRATION  . .    143 

VIII.  ARCHITECTURAL  WORK 177 

IX.  MARINE  WORK 195 

X.  MOTION-PICTURE  WORK 211 

XI.  PORTRAITURE 232 

XII.  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  HAND  CAMERA  . .   292 
XIII.  CONCLUSION  . .  .  304 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

PORTRAIT  OF  ELIZABETH  HAMMACHER  (in  color) 

Paul  L.  Anderson.                           Frontispiece 
PORTRAIT  OF  MY  MOTHER 18 

Paul  L.  Anderson. 
ILLUSTRATION  FOR  A  STORY 30 

Lejaren  a  Hiller. 
MIST  IN  THE  VALLEY 42 

Anonymous. 
A  HILLSIDE  PASTURE 56 

W.  E.  Macnaughtan. 
THE  WOODS  OF  COLONOS 68 

H.  Y.  Summons. 
A  SUMMER  LANDSCAPE 80 

Bern  F.  Eilers. 
EVENING  BREEZES 92 

J.  S.  Fowler. 
A  COUNTRY  ROAD 106 

Anonymous. 
HASSIM  SEEKS  THE  GENIE  OF  THE  ROCKS 118 

W.  G.  Fitz. 
FINIS 130 

Annie  W.  Brigman. 
BLIND  MAN'S  BUFF 142 

Clarence  H.  White. 

13 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

THE  BAT 156 

Gertrude  Kasebier. 
THE  PRELUDE 168 

Laura  Gilpin. 
MEISSEN 180 

Karl  Struss. 
THE  FLATIRON 192 

Paul  L.  Anderson. 
EASTERLY  WEATHER 206 

Bertrand  H.  Wentworth. 
A  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW 218 

Anonymous. 
SYCAMORES 230 

Anonymous. 
PORTRAIT  or  DR.  EDWARD  A.  REILEY 242 

Paul  L.  Anderson. 
THE  BRIDE 256 

Gertrude  Kasebier. 
PORTRAIT 270 

Catherine  Collier. 
PRISCILLA 282 

Paul  L.  Anderson. 
PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.  GEORGE  B.  HOLLISTER 294 

Paul  L.  Anderson. 
LEYLET  EL  WAHSHAH 306 

H.  Y.  Summons. 


THE  FINE  ART  OF 
PHOTOGRAPHY 


INTRODUCTORY 

THERE  are  almost  as  many  definitions  of  the 
phrase  "  fine  art "  as  there  are  writers  on  the 
subject,  one  author  even  maintaining  that  any 
beautiful  object  produced  by  man  is  a  work  of 
fine  art,  a  definition  which  would  obviously 
include  Oriental  rugs,  automobiles,  grand 
pianos  and  repeating  rifles;  but  the  definition 
which  the  present  author  prefers,  and  on  which 
the  discussion  in  the  following  pages  is  based, 
is  as  follows :  p\.  fine  art  is  any  medium  of  ex- 
pression whicnpermits  one  person  to  convey  to 
another  an  abstract  idea  of  a  lofty  or  ennobling 
character,  or  to  arouse  in  another  a  lofty  emo- 
tion?] It  will  be  seen  that  this  includes  dancing, 
music,  prose  writing,  poetry,  architecture  and 
the  various  graphic  and  glyptic  arts,  though  it 
is  sometimes  impossible  to  draw  an  accurate 

15 


ttTOF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

dividing  line  between  fine  art  and  craftsman- 
ship. For  example,  Michelangelo's  David 
and  Donatello's  Gattamelata  are  unquestion- 
ably fine  art,  and  the  typical  figure  of  an 
Indian,  used  as  a  tobacconist's  sign,  is  not; 
but  it  is  not  possible  to  say  just  where  the  two 
expressions  merge.  The  Indian  may  carry  a 
glimmering  of  an  abstract  idea,  and  to  that 
extent  may  possess  some  of  the  elements  of 
fine  art.  On  the  other  hand,  the  most  exquisite 
craftsmanship,  if  ignobly  used,  may  excite  our 
interest  and  admiration,  but  can  never  prove 
stimulating.  It  is  not  meant  to  imply  that  art 
must  necessarily  be  didactic;  there  may  be  as 
much  moral  stimulus  in  a  simple  picture  of  sun- 
light on  water  as  in  the  most  elaborate  sermon, 
but  the  writer  does  not  feel  that  pictures  which 
are  degrading  or  are  merely  indifferent  can 
justly  claim  the  title,  "  fine  art." 

The  writer  would  not,  however,  be  under- 
stood as  adhering  to  the  idea,  sometimes  ad- 
vanced, that  a  dissolute  individual  cannot  be 
a  great  artist,  and  that  in  order  to  accomplish 
fine  things  in  art  the  worker  must  be  of  a  re- 
ligious turn  of  mind.  History  shows  clearly 

16 


INTRODUCTORY  f 

that  a  libertine  may  produce  works  which  fulfil 
all  the  requirements  of  the  highest  art,  though 
it  may  be  doubted  if  such  a  one  can  continue 
the  production  of  great  works  for  a  long  period. 
To  be  a  great  artist  one  must  be  in  full  posses- 
sion of  all  his  faculties,  and  his  senses  must  be 
at  their  highest  pitch  of  development  and  recep- 
tivity, whereas  a  dissolute  life  tends  to  blunt 
the  senses  and  to  lower  the  efficiency  of  the 
worker,  so  it  seems  unlikely  that  a  man  could 
continue  a  life  of  debauchery  and  at  the  same 
time  produce  fine  works  for  a  long  period  of 
years.  This,  however,  is  a  purely  physical  mat- 
ter, and  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
individual's  power  of  conceiving  lofty  ideas. 

There  has  for  many  years  been  current  a 
popular  belief  that  the  artist  must  necessarily 
be  more  or  less  neurotic  and  morally  loose,  this 
impression  arising  from  the  fact  that  artists, 
working,  as  they  do,  largely  under  emotional 
tension,  have  sought  relief  and  relaxation  in 
drinking  and  other  forms  of  vice.  Within  re- 
cent years,  however,  artists  have  come  to  realize 
that  equal  relaxation — and  that  of  a  beneficial 
sort — may  be  obtained  through  physical  exer- 

9,  17 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

else,  and  that  this  form  of  recreation  not  only 
accomplishes  the  letting  down  of  the  nervous 
strain,  but  also  stores  up  energy  to  permit  of 
continuing  work  longer  than  would  otherwise 
be  the  case,  so  that  the  author  confidently  looks 
for  a  change  in  the  popular  estimate  of  the  ar- 
tist, and  believes  that  within  a  few  more  years 
painters,  sculptors,  musicians,  and  other  work- 
ers in  the  fine  arts  will  come  to  be  regarded  as 
an  exceptionally  healthy  and  athletic  class. 

At  present  there  is  an  inclination  among 
artists  of  all  kinds,  but  especially  among  pho- 
tographers, to  consider  any  picture  which  is 
well  arranged,  pleasing  in  its  tone  qualities,  and 
of  an  agreeable  texture — in  other  words,  which 
is  esthetically  gratifying — as  artistically  com- 
plete and  satisfactory,  but  the  writer  cannot 
agree  with  this.  Such  pictures  are  simply  ma- 
chine work,  and,  though  a  machine  may  be  very 
beautiful,  and  the  product  of  a  machine  as  well, 
it  remains  always  a  machine  product,  and  un- 
less informed  by  genius  a  picture,  whether  done 
by  hand  or  by  photography,  cannot  rise  to  the 
level  of  art  but  must  be  called  craftsmanship. 
A  straight  photograph,  that  is,  one  in  which 

18 


PORTRAIT  OF  MY  MOTHER 
BY  PAUL  L.  ANDERSON 
From  a  Gum-Platinum  Print 


INTRODUCTORY 

the  worker  has  not  altered  either  outlines  or 
values,  is  inevitably  a  machine  product,  a  record 
of  fact,  lovely  though  it  may  be,  and  as  such 
cannot  be  classed  with  work  in  which  the  artist 
has  expressed,  by  various  artifices,  the  soul  that 
lines  behind  the  material  aspect.  It  is  com- 
monly asserted  that  Nature  is  rarely  pictorial, 
and  that  for  this  reason  the  artist  must  exercise 
selection,  but  it  would  probably  be  nearer  the 
truth  to  say  that  Nature  is  almost  always  pic- 
torial— that  almost  any  scene  would  make  a 
picture  if  reproduced  exactly  as  it  is — and  that 
the  failure  to  render  commonplace  things  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  make  them  impressive  is 
not  due  to  a  lack  of  pictorial  quality  in  the 
things  themselves  but  to  our  inability  to  repro- 
duce them  as  they  exist. 

There  are  many  who  will  question  this.  The 
average  man,  going  about  the  affairs  of  his 
daily  life  with  his  eyes  closed  to  all  but  his  cus- 
tomary round,  and  the  artist,  trained  to  view 
everything  with  reference  to  the  possibility  of 
translating  it  into  a  picture,  alike  will  doubt 
what  has  been  said ;  but  if  anyone  will  consider 
a  scene,  it  matters  little  what  it  may  be,  taking 

19 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

into  account  the  color,  the  size,  the  fact  that  it 
has  depth  instead  of  being  a  representation  on 
a  flat  plane,  the  motion,  the  light  in  which  it  is 
bathed,  and,  more  than  all  else,  the  cosmic 
forces  which  have  entered  into  its  making,  he 
will  see  that  there  are  few  things  which,  consid- 
ering all  these  elements,  lack  the  power  of  stim- 
ulating one  emotion  or  another  in  the  spectator. 
These  factors,  however,  are  lost  in  the  picture, 
and  their  loss  must  be  made  up  in  some  other 
manner,  so  the  artist  resorts  to  composition,  to 
the  selection  of  a  specific  lighting,  and  to  modifi- 
cations of  the  values  to  accomplish,  by  artifice, 
what  it  is  beyond  his  power  to  secure  directly. 
The  writer  is  well  aware  that  these  opinions  will 
be  hotly  contested  and  widely  disapproved — in 
fact,  there  was  a  time  when  he  himself  would 
have  contested  such  statements — 'but  he  has 
seen  many  photographs,  has  studied  the  art 
extensively,  and  believes  that  he  is  within  the 
truth,  though  he  would  not  be  understood  as 
denying  that  a  straight  photograph  may  be 
very  beautiful. 

It  follows  that  it  is  the  writer's  belief  that 

straight  photography  must  be  classed  as  the 

20 


INTRODUCTORY 

lowest  of  the  fine  arts,  if,  indeed,  it  can  claim 
admission  to  their  company  at  all.  Fortu- 
nately, however,  the  photographer  is  not  limited 
to  records  of  fact,  but,  as  will  be  seen  later,  is 
as  free  to  express  his  artistic  impulses  as  the 
worker  in  etching,  lithography  or  any  other 
monochromatic  medium. 

Assuming  that  the  worker  can  modify  at 
will  the  outlines  and  values — especially  the  lat- 
ter— of  his  subject,  it  then  remains  to  consider 
what  may  be  the  status  of  photography  among 
the  arts,  and  the  writer  believes  that  it  will  be 
found  to  be  high.  Since  every  fine  art  must  be 
capable  of  conveying  an  idea  or  stimulating  an 
emotion,  it  follows  that  it  must  possess  some 
intellectual  quality,  for  the  term  "  emotion  " 
implies  this.  It  is  here  that  the  Futurists, 
Cubists  and  other  modern  painters  fail,  for,  dis- 
carding form,  they  can  no  longer  claim  any  in- 
tellectual quality  for  their  art,  which  becomes 
merely  sensuous.  Every  medium  of  expression, 
then,  must  possess  both  intellectual  and  sensu- 
ous qualities,  though  these  may  be  combined  in 
widely  varying  proportions.  Thus,  dancing 

and  music  are  almost  entirely  devoid  of  any 

21 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

intellectual  appeal,  being  almost  purely  sen- 
suous, as  might  be  expected  from  the  fact  that 
they  are  the  oldest  and  most  primitive  of  the 
arts,  races  which  are  totally  lacking  in  even  the 
rudimentary  graphic  impulses  which  charac- 
terized paleolithic  and  neolithic  men  having 
nevertheless  primitive  dances  and  songs  as  well 
as  primitive  musical  instruments,  which,  how- 
ever, depend  mainly  on  a  sense  of  rhythm.  Next 
in  the  ascending  scale  comes  poetry,  which  in  its 
elementary  form  is  chiefly  sensuous  but  gradu- 
ally develops  the  intellectual  side  until  we  find 
modern  poetry,  as  practised  to-day,  often 
nearly  if  not  quite  free  from  any  appeal  to  the 
senses.  The  next  step  gives  prose  writing, 
which  may  combine  the  intellectual  and  the 
sensuous  in  almost  any  degree,  though  always 
remaining  sensuously  inferior  to  ancient  poetry. 
Painting  and  sculpture  are  about  on  a  par  with 
prose  writing,  though  sculpture,  lacking  color, 
possibly  has  less  of  the  sensuous  quality  than 
painting,  though  this  is  somewhat  doubtful,  the 
lack  being  made  up  in  other  ways.  The  mono- 
chrome arts,  depending  entirely  on  form,  are 

more  intellectual  than  painting,  and  architec- 

22 


INTRODUCTORY 

ture  is  probably  the  highest  development  of  all, 
for  the  expression  in  this  case  is  largely  mono- 
chromatic— or  at  all  events  concerns  itself  less 
with  color  than  does  painting — depends  almost 
altogether  on  form,  and  is  on  a  large,  often  a 
gigantic,  scale.  Since,  then,  the  intellectual 
value  of  a  fine  art  is  based  on  its  use  of  form 
rather  than  color,  and  on  the  possibility  of 
voluntary  modification  by  the  artist  of  natural 
appearance,  it  follows  that  photography  is  in-, 
ferior  to  architecture  in  two  particulars  only — - 
the  scale,  and  the  fact  that  photographs  have 
but  two  dimensions,  these  two  points  of  inferi- 
ority being  common  to  all  graphic  arts.  This 
conclusion  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  the 
worker  is  privileged  to  modify  form  and  color 
at  will,  and  those  photographers  who  are  in- 
sistent on  straight  photography  will  refuse  to 
admit  this,  but  those  who  desire  to  produce  pic- 
tures— to  call  forth  an  emotional  response — 
will  not  care  whether  their  methods  are  called 
legitimate  or  not;  they  will  look  only  to  the 
result,  and  the  writer,  as  has  been  said,  believes 
that  in  such  hands  the  camera  will  eventually 
prove  its  right  to  a  high  place  among  the  medi- 

23 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

urns  of  expression,  higher,  in  fact,  than  we  now 
have  any  idea  of,  or  can  foresee. 

The  author,  however,  does  not  mean  to  imply 
that  photography  is  necessarily  and  inevitably 
higher  in  the  intellectual  scale  than  painting, 
for  the  painter  can,  if  he  so  desires,  reduce  his 
palette  to  monochrome  and  give  his  entire  at- 
tention to  form,  or  the  camera  worker  can  make 
use  of  the  various  processes  of  color  photog- 
raphy, while,  on  the  other  hand,  form  may  be 
so  treated  as  to  be  almost  altogether  sensuous 
in  its  appeal.  The  discussion  refers  simply  to 
the  general  tendencies  of  the  different  forms  of 
art  expression  in  normal  circumstances. 

It  is  impossible  to  place  any  definite  limit  to 
the  emotions  expressible  by  photography,  for 
they  include  practically  if  not  absolutely  all 
that  can  be  expressed  by  any  graphic  medium, 
and,  further,  if  we  should  say  that  such  and 
such  an  emotion  was  beyond  the  range  of  the 
camera  someone  would  shortly  come  forward 
with  a  print  doing  just  what  was  declared  to 
be  impossible.  The  writer  remembers  a  story 
told  him  years  ago  by  the  trainer  of  the  college 
track  team,  to  the  effect  that  shortly  after  the 

24 


INTRODUCTORY 

record  for  the  hundred-yard  dash  was  lowered 
to  ten  seconds  some  mathematician  demon- 
strated, by  a  complicated  calculation  of  inertia, 
wind  resistance  and  possible  delivery  of  horse- 
power, that  it  was  impossible  for  anyone  to  run 
the  distance  in  less  than  ten  seconds.  Some  time 
after,  the  record  was  lowered  to  nine  and  four- 
fifths.  This  story  may  or  may  not  be  true,  but 
at  all  events  it  illustrates  the  tendency  of  men 
to  accomplish  the  impossible. 

For  this  reason  the  writer  will  content  him- 
self with  the  statement  that  it  is  within  the 
power  of  photography  to  express  and  to  stimu- 
late such  emotions  as  joy,  calm,  peace,  hope, 
anger,  horror,  and  the  like.  Terror  is  difficult 
to  stimulate  graphically,  though,  of  course,  it 
may  be  represented,  and  reverence  is  probably 
beyond  the  capacity  of  the  camera ;  it  demands 
a  larger  picture  space  than  the  camera  can 
readily  afford,  and  is,  in  the  main,  beyond  the 
power  of  any  graphic  art.  It  must  be  under- 
stood that  there  is  a  great  difference  between 
the  expression  of  any  emotion  and  the  stimula- 
tion of  the  same  emotion.  The  former  means 
simply  that  it  is  evident  that  the  actors  in  the 

25 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

picture  feel  the  emotion  in  question,  and  it  is 
much  easier  to  cause  this  to  be  seen  than  it  is 
to  arouse  the  same  feeling  in  the  'Spectator;  the 
difference  is  the  same  as  in  writing,  where  it  is 
a  matter  of  no  difficulty  to  say  that  a  person 
did  so  and  so,  but  is  far  from  easy  to  give  the 
reader  a  mental  picture  of  the  actor  perform- 
ing the  act.  It  is  in  the  latter  function  that 
art  lies,  and  if  on  reading  a  story  or  looking 
at  a  picture  the  reader  or  the  observer  finds  him- 
self unconsciously  and  involuntarily  taking  the 
place  of  one  of  the  actors  and  mentally  follow- 
ing the  course  of  the  action  in  his  own  person, 
he  may  be  sure  that  he  is  in  the  presence  of  a 
work  of  art. 

It  follows  from  this  that  the  appreciation  of 
a  work  of  art  demands  a  certain  mental  level 
in  the  person  before  whom  it  is  placed.  There 
are  many  individuals  who  would  follow  with 
the  most  intense  interest  the  adventures  of 
Buffalo  Bill,  but  would  get  nothing  of  stimulus 
from  the  fact  that  Macbeth  could  not  say 
"  Amen  "  when  the  sleepy  groom  cried  "  God 
bless  us ! "  And  though  the  writer  was  once, 
when  traveling  by  rail,  carried  past  his  station 

26 


INTRODUCTORY  f 

in  his  'absorption  in  Defoe's  "  Captain  Single- 
ton, "  this  does  not  mean  that  there  are  not 
many  who  would  find  that  book  dull  in  the 
extreme.  So  any  work  of  art  must  be  adapted 
to  those  who  are  to  view  it.  Necessarily,  how- 
ever, the  artist  cannot  altogether  choose  his 
audience — unless  his  works  are  privately  circu- 
lated— and  it  remains  only  for  him  to  do  the 
best  that  is  in  him,  secure  in  the  confidence  that 
if  his  work  is  sincere  it  will  find,  among  many 
who  are  indifferent  and  some  who  are  hostile, 
true  appreciators,  who  will  see  his  purpose  and 
be  benefitted  by  his  expression.  The  writer 
recently  saw  a  criticism  of  a  certain  well-known 
picture,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  mawkishly 
sentimental;  but  though  the  criticism  was  per- 
fectly justified  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
critic  (and,  in  fact,  of  the  present  writer  as 
well)  the  objection  seems  of  little  consequence, 
for  the  critic  apparently  forgot  that  there  are 
many  persons  to  whom  this  painting  would 
carry  a  very  decided  message,  since  their  per- 
ceptions and  sensibilities  are  not  so  highly  de- 
veloped as  those  of  the  one  who  objected  to  the 
sentimental  character  of  the  artist's  conception. 

27 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

One  cannot  set  up  an  arbitrary  standard  of 
criticism  and  say  that  every  work  must  measure 
up  to  it;  the  work  must  be  adapted  to  the  men- 
tality of  the  observer  if  it  is  to  have  any  bene- 
ficial effect  on  him,  and  what  one  man  admires 
will  be  meaningless  to  one  of  less  development 
and  cultivation,  or  banal  to  another  of  still  finer 
perceptions,  so  that  what  appeared  to  the  critic 
in  question  as  "  mawkishly  sentimental  "  might 
easily  prove  stimulating  to  the  higher  emotions 
of  one  in  a  lower  stage  of  racial  development. 
It  is  well  to  make  our  standards  as  high  as  pos- 
sible, but  we  must  not  condemn  one  whose  ideals 
are  perforce  lower  than  our  own,  provided  only 
he  makes  a  sincere  effort  to  live  up  to  the  high- 
est conception  he  is  capable  of  appreciating.  In 
art,  as  in  morality  and  ethics,  there  is  a  marked 
tendency  in  the  average  person  to  judge  all 
others  by  his  own  standards.  This  is  not  just; 
before  judging  another  we  must  realize  fully 
the  motives  and  ideals  behind  his  acts,  for  only 
thus  can  genuine  and  equitable  criticism  result. 
To  sum  up,  then,  the  writer's  conclusion  is 
that  straight  photography — that  is,  the  making 
of  an  uncontrolled  print  from  a  negative  which 

28 


INTRODUCTORY 

has  not  been  modified  by  hand — can  but  be  re- 
garded as  craftsmanship,  or  at  best  virtuosity, 
but  it  may  be  added  that  there  are  few  photog- 
raphers calling  themselves  artists  who  adhere 
to  this  technique,  and  the  most  curious  confusion 
seems  to  exist  in  the  minds  of  camera  users  as 
to  what  is  legitimate  and  what  is  not.  For  ex- 
ample, the  writer  knows  one  man  who  vehe- 
mently insists  on  the  impropriety  of  using  a 
pencil  on  the  negative,  but  does  not  hesitate  to 
sun  down  portions  of  the  print  while  it  is  in  the 
printing-frame,  and  there  are  others  who  are 
equally  irrational  in  their  attitude,  some  refus- 
ing to  work  on  the  negative  with  pencil,  but 
eagerly  working  over  a  gum  print  with  a  brush. 
The  logical  conclusion,  of  course,  is  that  if 
straight  photography  is  to  be  insisted  on,  all 
plates  must  be  developed  alike — for  modifica- 
tions in  development  are  control — and  that  all 
prints  are  to  be  made  in  precisely  the  same  man- 
ner, but  the  camera  user  who  should  follow  out 
this  idea  would  soon  find  himself  reduced  to 
practice  a  "  base  mechanic  art  "  devoid  of  any 
interest  beyond  that  which  attaches  to  mechan- 
ical precision  of  any  kind. 

29 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

It  is  by  no  means  intended  to  imply  that  the 
photographer  should  always  modify  the  results 
given  by  his  lens  and  plate,  for  it  may  happen 
that  a  direct  photograph  in  which  selection  and 
manipulative  skill  are  exercised  will  have  all 
the  suggestive  power  of  the  most  carefully 
worked-out  structure;  but  it  is  rare  that  this 
occurs,  and  the  artist  should  always  be  pre- 
pared to  modify  either  the  print  or  the  negative 
in  order  to  secure  the  desired  effect,  bearing 
ever  in  mind  that  too  much  modification  may 
be  worse  than  none  at  all.  "  Mais  vous  elaborez 
trop;  de  grace,  n'y  touchez  plus! " 

The  writer  has  stated  elsewhere  *  his  belief 
that  the  best  printing  medium  is  that  which 
allows  the  greatest  freedom  of  personal  ex- 
pression, and  pursuant  to  this  belief  he  has, 
after  many  years  of  experiment  with  literally 
all  the  available  mediums,  discarded  all  the 
others  in  favor  of  oil  and  more  especially  brom- 
oil,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  he  advises 
everyone  to  do  likewise,  for  it  may  be  that 
others  will  find  their  freest  expression  in  gum, 

*"  Pictorial  Photography,  Its  Principles  and  Practice,"  Chap- 
ter XIV. 

30 


• 


ILLUSTRATION  FOR  A  STORY 
BY  LEJAREN  A  KILLER 

From  a  Bromide  Print 
Reprinted    from    the   Saturday    Evening 
Post,  of  Philadelphia.     Copyright,  1917, 
by  the  Curtis  Publishing  Company 


A  i  i 


INTRODUCTORY 

carbon,  platinum  or  bromide,  performing  neces- 
sary modifications  on  the  negative.  He  does, 
however,  mean  to  insist  that  a  photograph  can- 
not rank  as  a  work  of  art  unless  it  carries  some 
suggestion  of  a  lofty  emotion,  and  he  believes 
that  this  result  is  rarely  attained  without  the 
intervention  of  the  artist  himself  through  some 
hand  work  on  either  plate  or  print,  the  advan- 
tage of  working  on  the  plate  being  that  the  pos- 
sibility of  duplicating  results  is  thereby  made 
easy,  whereas  such  duplication  is  extremely  dif- 
ficult when  the  modifications  are  the  result  of 
brush  work  on  the  print.  The  writer  seldom 
wishes  to  repeat  a  success,  and  this  factor  is 
consequently  of  little  importance  to  him,  but 
it  should  be  taken  into  account  by  each  worker 
in  selecting  a  printing  medium.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  borne  in  mind  that  an  evident  mixture 
of  mediums  is  a  hybrid  and  an  abomination, 
and  the  eff ort  of  some  workers  to  produce 
photographs  resembling  in  texture  or  quality 
the  effects  of  pencil  or  charcoal  drawing,  etch- 
ing or  lithography,  are  foredoomed  to  failure; 
art  is  above  all  else  sincere. 


II 

COMPOSITION 

ANY  picture,  to  be  satisfying,  must  have  a 
principal  object  or  idea,  to  which  all  else  is 
subordinated,  and  to  which  all  the  other  com- 
ponents of  the  picture  contribute,  by  contrast, 
by  suggestion,  or  by  explanation.  A  well- 
known  artist  has  said:  "  There  is  only  one  rule 
in  art — c  Thou  shalt  not  paint  two  pictures  on 
one  canvas,'  "  and  this  is  no  more  than  saying 
that  there  must  be  but  one  main  idea,  with 
which  the  supporting  objects  must  not  com- 
pete. It  is  perhaps  safe  to  go  a  little  farther 
than  this  and  say  that  the  minor  objects  in  the 
picture  not  only  must  not  compete  with  the 
chief  object,  but  that  they  must  actually  sup- 
port it,  for  no  part  of  the  picture  can  be  merely 
indifferent,  because  what  is  not  helpful  is 
positively  harmful. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  artist,  because 
of  the  limitations  of  his  medium,  must  resort 
to  artifice  instead  of  endeavoring  to  represent 

32 


COMPOSITION 

natural  objects  as  they  appear  (something  that 
can  never  be  accomplished) ;  and  the  first  and 
most  important  of  his  artifices  is  composition, 
the  purpose  of  which  is  simply  to  arrange  the 
various  elements  entering  into  the  picture  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  necessary  emphasis  on 
the  principal  object  is  secured,  that  any  requi- 
site explanation  is  given,  and  that  the  resulting 
pattern  may  be  pleasing  to  the  eye — that  is,  in 
accordance  with  what  racial  education  has 
taught  us  to  consider  graceful.  It  might  be 
thought  that  one  of  these  purposes  would  neces- 
sarily involve  the  other,  but  such  is  not  the  case; 
it  is  quite  possible  to  have  an  agreeable  pattern 
which  carries  no  emphasis,  and  it  is  equally 
possible — though  less  probable — to  have  a  pat- 
tern which  aids  the  chief  thought  but  is  not  in- 
herently pleasing.  Good  composition  fulfils 
both  requirements  and  may  be  likened  to  a  good 
foundation  for  a  building.  Many  a  picture, 
otherwise  of  no  great  merit,  is  successful  by 
reason  of  good  composition,  and  many  a  pic- 
ture which  is  fine  in  other  ways  fails  because 
the  composition  has  not  been  carefully  thought 
out.  Often  a  very  slight  change  in  the  arrange- 

3  33 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

ment  of  light  and  shade  is  sufficient  to  turn  a 
failure  into  a  success,  but  one  occasionally  en- 
counters what  the  French  call  a  sujet  ingrat — • 
a  thankless  subject — and  then  it  becomes  neces- 
sary to  reconstruct  the  entire  picture.  An  ex- 
cellent test  of  good  pattern  (though  not 
necessarily  of  sound  composition)  is  to  invert 
the  picture  and  view  it  upside  down,  for  by  this 
means  the  subject-matter  is  lost  sight  of  and 
only  the  pattern  remains.  Of  course,  this  does 
not  show  whether  or  not  the  minor  objects 
properly  support  the  central  thought,  but  if  the 
pattern  is  agreeable  and  balances  about  both  the 
vertical  and  the  horizontal  axes — that  is,  if  the 
interest  is  suitably  distributed  over  the  picture 
space — so  much  is  gained,  and  the  rest  of  the 
problem  is  simplified. 

In  view  of  the  present  widespread  interest 
in  Japanese  art,  it  may  be  well  to  call  attention 
to  the  fundamental  difference  between  eastern 
and  western  theories  of  composition.  The 
occidental  artist  holds  that  the  entire  picture 
space  should  be  filled  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
eye  progresses  in  orderly  sequence  from  one 
object  of  interest  to  another  until  the  whole 

34 


COMPOSITION 

area  has  been  seen  and  each  line  or  mass  has 
received  its  due  and  proper  amount  of  atten- 
tion. This  does  not  mean  that  the  space  should 
be  filled  with  detail,  for  a  gradation  of  light  is 
often  sufficient^  but  it  does  imply  that  there 
should  be  no  empty  spaces.  The  Oriental  ar- 
tist, on  the  other  hand,  holds  that  this  is  not 
necessary  and  that  blank  areas  are  acceptable 
portions  of  the  picture  space. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  either  the 
Eastern  or  the  Western  artist  invariably  works 
in  the  fashion  indicated,  but  merely  that  these 
are  the  general  characteristics  of  the  two 
schools.  Neither  does  the  writer  claim  that 
either  method  is  better  than  the  other;  it  de- 
pends on  what  it  is  desired  to  express  as  well 
as  on  the  degree  of  education  of  the  spectator, 
but  it  may  be  said  that  the  Japanese  idea  is 
characteristic  of  a  more  advanced  and  refined 
stage  of  racial  development,  which  concerns 
itself  more  with  the  manner  of  expression  than 
with  the  subject  matter,  whereas  the  Western 
idea  is  that  of  a  younger,  more  robust  civiliza- 
tion, which  holds  the  thing  expressed  to  be  of 
more  consequence  than  an  exquisitely  fastidious 

35 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

mode  of  expression.  A  precise  analogy  to  this 
state  of  affairs  is  found  in  poetry.  Modern 
poetry  is  based  on  the  idea  that  a  rhythmic  and 
beautiful  description  of  a  beautiful  thing  con- 
stitutes fine  poetry,  whereas  the  older  poets  ad- 
hered to  a  formal  mode  of  expression  and 
insisted  on  the  need  of  a  more  or  less  abstract 
and  lofty  thought  as  a  motive.  Ethnologists 
have  pointed  out  that  a  strong  and  active 
imagination  is  characteristic  of  a  relatively  un- 
developed mind — i.e.,  that  of  a  child  or  a  sav- 
age— and  that,  as  the  imaginative  powers  de- 
cline with  the  development  of  the  race,  their 
place  is  more  and  more  supplied  (in  art,  at 
least)  by  refinement  of  expression;  but  the 
imaginative  powers  are  at  the  present  time  so 
active  in  other  realms  (in  science,  for  instance, 
where  imagination  is  as  necessary  as  in  art)  that 
the  writer  finds  it  difficult  to  believe  that  they 
have  definitely  disappeared  from  the  realm  of 
art.  The  human  being  depends  on  three  mental 
faculties ;  memory,  imagination  and  logic,  which 
have  developed  in  the  order  given,  with  the  de- 
velopment of  the  race ;  and  it  seems  that  the  loss 
or  atrophy  of  any  one  of  these  faculties  would 

36 


COMPOSITION 

necessarily  result  in  arresting  the  progress  of 
evolution,  which  is  an  unthinkable  state  of  af- 
fairs. For  this  reason  it  is  the  -writer's  belief 
that  the  present  tendency  toward  refinement 
and  sestheticism,  to  the  exclusion  of  imagina- 
tion, is  merely  a  passing  phase  and  that  the 
future  will  see  a  return  to  a  more  vigorous 
and  robust  art,  with  the  added  power  given  by 
the  elaborate  and  exhaustive  study  of  its 
methods  of  expression. 

One  factor  which  unquestionably  operates 
to  encourage  gestheticism  is  that  it  is  unfortu- 
nately the  custom  among  present-day  educators 
to  repress  and  restrain  the  imaginative  powers 
manifested  by  their  pupils,  rather  than  to  direct 
and  guide  their  development.  As  a  natural 
consequence  of  this  unfortunate  attitude,  the 
average  adult  is  sorely  lacking  in  imagination; 
and,  finding  it  easier  to  cultivate  an  apprecia- 
tion of,  and  an  enthusiasm  for,  refinement  of 
expression  than  to  reinvigorate  the  atrophied 
faculty  of  imagination,  concentrates  his  atten- 
tion on  that  phase  of  art,  lauding  it  above  the 
faculty  which  he  no  longer  can  command.  It  is 
the  fable  of  the  fox  who  lost  his  tail,  done  into 

37 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

modern  terms.  However,  the  imagination  can 
to  a  great  extent  be  regained,  and  though  it  is 
of  primary  importance  in  the  original  concep- 
tion of  the  picture  motive,  it  is  but  little  less 
valuable  in  composition. 

Composition  depends  on  the  fundamental 
fact  that  every  spot,  every  mass  and  every  line 
in  the  picture  possesses  a  certain  power  of  at- 
tracting or  guiding  the  eye,  this  attracting  or 
guiding  power  depending  on  the  size  of  the 
spot,  its  placing  within  the  area,  and  its  inten- 
sity as  compared  to  its  surroundings — or,  in 
the  case  of  a  line,  on  its  intensity,  its  direction 
and  its  magnitude.  It  should  be  clearly  under- 
stood that  so  far  as  composition  is  concerned 
the  painter  and  the  photographer  approach  the 
subject  from  entirely  different  standpoints,  the 
painter's  atitude  being  synthetic,  whereas  the 
photographer's  is  analytic.  That  is,  the 
painter  starts  with  a  blank  canvas  or  paper  and 
by  adding  various  items  to  it  builds  up  a  com- 
plete and  harmonious  whole,  but  the  photog- 
rapher's task  is  to  select  from  the  infinity  of 
items  presented  to  him  those  which  will  com- 
bine in  a  satisfactory  manner.  Therefore,  the 

38 


COMPOSITION 

photographer's  problem  is  chiefly  to  recognize 
a  composition  rather  than  to  construct  one,  and 
it  is  evident  that  a  discussion  of  composition 
which  would  be  of  value  to  the  painter  might 
be  practically  worthless  to  the  photographer, 
or  at  least  might  involve  an  unnecessary 
amount  of  study,  for  it  may  be  said  that  if  a 
person  can  build  up  a  satisfactory  composition 
he  can  usually  appreciate  one  when  it  is  pre- 
sented to  him.  Of  course,  it  sometimes  hap- 
pens that  the  painter  works  analytically,  and 
it  also  occurs  that  the  camera  user  (especially 
in  genre  work)  will  have  to  proceed  syntheti- 
cally, but  the  general  rule  is  as  given,  so  that 
many  books  which  would  be  of  great  value  to 
the  student  of  painting  are  not  recommended 
to  the  photographer. 

Whichever  method  the  artist  adopts,  he 
should  be  so  conversant  with  the  principles  of 
composition  that  the  arrangement  of  the  pic- 
ture involves  no  conscious  thought — that  he 
reacts  automatically  and  unconsciously  to  a 
good  or  bad  arrangement — for  a  definite,  con- 
scious effort  to  mold  a  picture  along  certain 
lines  is  sure  to  result  in  a  stiff,  labored  and  arti- 

39 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

ficial  product,  which  will  repel  the  observer  by 
its  very  rigidity.  Therefore,  study  must  be 
continued  far  beyond  the  point  where  the 
worker  has  learned  the  fundamental  principles 
of  composition;  in  fact,  no  one  ever  reaches 
the  point  where  such  study  may  safely  be  aban- 
doned, for  it  is  impossible  ever  to  attain  utter 
perfection  in  anything.  In  art  as  in  other 
human  activities,  book-knowledge  alone  is  use- 
less; so,  though  the  young  worker  should  read 
all  that  is  available  on  the  subject  and  should 
study  the  works  of  the  great  masters,  he  can 
never  compose  a  picture  until  he  has  learned 
by  experience  and  failure,  for  failure  is  even  a 
better  teacher  than  success.  Therefore,  study 
should  always  be  supplemented  by  practice, 
and  the  student  should  not  permit  himself  to 
be  discouraged  by  his  failures — he  need  not 
exhibit  them. 

Absolute  rules  for  composition,  of  course, 
cannot  be  laid  down,  but  certain  basic  princi- 
ples may  be  enunciated,  and  from  the  study 
and  application  of  these  the  worker  will  develop 
his  own  sense  of  arrangement. 

An  entirely  blank  space  has  no  power  of 

40 


COMPOSITION 


attracting  the  eye.    If  we  consider  the  empty 
rectangle  shown  in  Fig.  1  we  shall  see  that  the 


FIG.  1. 


FIG.  2. 


eye  roams  indifferently  over  the  entire  area, 
finding  no  resting  place;  but  the  moment  a 
spot  is  added  within  the  rectangle  (Fig.  2)  the 


41 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

eye  comes  to  rest  on  the  spot,  and  remains  di- 
rected  thither,   with   no   inclination   to   move 


FIG.  3. 


FIG.  4. 


about.  If,  now,  another  spot  be  added,  as  in 
Fig.  3,  the  eye  travels  back  and  forth  from  one 
spot  to  the  other  -and  from  this  we  see  that  any 


42 


MIST  IN  THE  VALLEY 
From  a  Bromoil  Enlargement 


COMPOSITION 


spot  within  the  picture  space  attracts  the  eye  to 
some  extent.    Suppose  a  third  spot  to  be  added, 


FIG.  5. 


FIG.  6. 


as  in  Fig.  4,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  eye 
travels  over  the  three  of  them  impartially;  but 
the  addition  of  two  more  spots,  as  in  Fig.  5, 


43 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 


gives  the  eye  a  slightly  different  course,  and 
forces  the  idea  of  a  sequence,  or  order  of  ob- 
servation. Joining  these  spots  by  means  of  a 
line,  as  in  Fig.  6,  the  same  sequence  is  observed, 
but  the  eye  travels  back  and  forth  along  the 
line,  finding  no  complete  composition;  there  is 


FIG.  7. 

nothing  to  lead  the  eye  into  the  unoccupied 
portion  of  the  picture  area.  Joining  the  ex- 
treme ends  of  the  curved  line  by  a  straight  line 
(Fig.  7)  we  see  that  the  eye  travels  over  the 
entire  closed  figure,  being  carried  into  every 
quarter  of  the  picture  space  (so  far  as  the  com- 
position goes)  and  the  composition  is  com- 
plete in  itself,  in  that  the  eye  returns  to  the 
starting  point,  though  it. is  not  a  finished  pic- 

44 


COMPOSITION 


ture.  From  all  this  it  is  seen  that  any  spot  in 
the  picture  area  has  a  certain  power  of  attract- 
ing the  eye,  that  a  series  of  spots  attracts  the 
eye  in  a  certain  progression,  that  a  line  is  the 
equivalent  of  a  series  of  spots,  and  that  a 
straight  line  may  induce  the  eye  to  travel  from 


one  point  to  another  exactly  as  does  a  curved 
line,  the  difference  being  that  the  straight  line 
is  more  direct,  but  the  curved  line  covers  a 
greater  territory.  This  is  the  fundamental 
theory  of  composition. 

Reverting  to  the  spots,  let  us  place  in  the 
picture  area  first  a  small  spot  and  then  a  large 
one,  as  in  Fig.  8,  and  it  is  at  once  apparent  that 
the  larger  spot,  other  things  being  equal,  has 

45 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

the  greater  attractive  power.  Suppose,  now, 
that  we  have  three  backgrounds — a  light,  a 
medium  and  a  dark  gray — and  on  each  of  these 
we  place  a  white  and  a  black  spot  of  equal  size, 
as  in  Fig.  9.  It  is  apparent  that  in  the  first 
case  the  black  spot  is  more  attractive,  in  the 
second  the  attractions  are  equal,  and  in  the 
third  it  is  the  white  spot  which  has  the  greater 
attractive  power.  This  shows  that  the  value  of 
a  spot  in  attracting  the  eye  depends  not  only 
on  its  size,  as  in  Fig.  8,  but  also  on  its  contrast 
with  the  surroundings. 

Let  us  now  place  two  equivalent  spots  in  an 
otherwise  empty  area,  putting  one  at  the  center 
of  the  space  and  the  other  near  the  edge,  as  in 
Fig.  10,  and  it  is  at  once  seen  that  the  eye  tends 
to  rest  on  the  latter,  this  showing  that  the  posi- 
tion of  a  spot  in  the  picture  space  influences  its 
power  of  attraction,  and  it  may  be  said  that 
experience  has  shown  the  exact  center  of  the 
picture  to  be  the  weakest  part.  Generally 
speaking,  the  best  location  for  the  principal 
object  is  found  by  dividing  the  space  into  thirds 
or  fifths,  both  vertically  and  horizontally,  and 
choosing  one  or  another  of  the  intersections 

46 


FIG.  9. 


COMPOSITION 


shown.  Broadly,  a  location  above  the  horizon- 
tal axis  is  preferable  to  one  below,  though  this, 
almost  invariably  true  in  portraiture  and  genre, 
does  not  always  hold  in  landscape.  Some  pho- 
tographers mark  off  the  ground  glass  as  shown 
in  Fig.  11,  or  in  some  similar  manner,  depend- 


FIG.  10. 

ing  on  the  lines  as  guides  in  arranging  the  pic- 
ture, but  this  course  is  not  advised,  for  it  savors 
too  much  of  artificiality  and  tends  to  reduce  the 
making  of  the  picture  to  rule,  something  that 
should  never  be  attempted.  It  is  best  to  ar- 
range the  picture,  so  far  as  possible,  without 
reference  to  the  focussing  screen;  for,  though 
the  concentration  and  inversion  of  the  picture 
on  the  ground  glass  facilitate  composition,  re- 

47 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 


liance  on  these  factors  ultimately  comes  to 
mean  dependence  on  them,  and  the  photog- 
rapher is  at  sea  if  he  ever  wishes  to  use  a  hand 
camera.  Art  must  be  (or  at  least  appear) 
spontaneous;  and  it  is  better  to  work  with  a 
freer  hand,  gradually  acquiring  a  sense  of  com- 


FlG.   11. 

position  through  repeated  failures,  than  to  pro- 
duce a  picture  which  is  mathematically  correct, 
but  is  labored,  stilted  and  cold. 

If  in  undertaking  the  placing  of  three  spots 
within  the  picture  space  we  group  them  at 
equal  distances  from  the  center,  or  in  any  other 
regular  arrangement,  as  in  Fig.  12,  we  find 
that  this  adjustment  results  in  a  composition 
which,  though  complete,  is  stiff  and  formal, 

48 


COMPOSITION  t 

and  any  regular  grouping,  whether  of  spots 
or  of  lines,  will  be  so.    Shifting  the  spots  a  lit- 


FIG.  12. 


FIG.  13. 


tie,  as  in  Fig.  13,  produces  the  same  result  so 
far  as  covering  the  space  is  concerned,  and 
gives  a  more  vigorous,  vital  effect.  A  regular 

4  49 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 


grouping  belongs  to  formal — decorative — art, 
and  for  anything  else  an  irregular  spacing  is  to 
be  preferred,  as  giving  considerably  more 
vitality  to  the  picture. 

A  satisfactory  composition  can  be  secured 
only  by  so  arranging  the  lines  and  masses  that 


FIG.  14 

the  eye  travels  over  the  entire  picture  space  in 
due  and  orderly  progression,  more  time  being 
given  to  the  principal  object  than  to  any  of  the 
others.  It  is  of  vital  importance  that  the  pic- 
ture balance  about  both  the  vertical  and  the 
horizontal  axis,  that  is,  that  the  attractions  on 
each  side  of  these  axes  be  approximately  equal, 
and  there  are  several  ways  of  securing  this  bal- 
ance. In  Fig.  14  two  spots  of  equal  size  are 

50 


COMPOSITION 


placed  on  the  horizontal  axis  at  equal  distances 
from  the  center,  and  balance  is  obtained;  but 


FIG.  15. 


FIG.  16. 

it  is  a  formal  balance,  a  better  arrangement  be- 
ing that  of  Fig.  15,  where  one  large  spot 
balances  two  smaller  ones.  Still  another  ar- 

51 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

rangement  is  that  of  Fig.  16,  where  advantage 
is  taken  of  the  fact  that  a  spot  near  the  edge 
of  the  picture  has  greater  attraction  than  one 
near  the  center,  whereas  if  the  spots  were  sim- 
ilarly located  the  large  one  would  overpower 
the  smaller.  This  may  be  varied  by  making 
the  smaller  spot  contrast  more  with  its  sur- 
roundings than  the  larger,  or  by  placing  it  in 
the  distance  or  middle  distance  of  the  picture, 
the  latter  course  tending  to  aid  the  suggestion 
of  depth  and  consequently  facilitating  the 
securing  of  an  illusion  of  three  dimensions. 
This  has  been  termed  the  balance  of  the  steel- 
yard, and  is  probably  the  most  vigorous  of  all 
the  forms  of  balance,  and  the  one  most  useful 
to  the  pictorial  worker.  It  is  admirably  illus- 
trated in  A  Summer  Landscape  (page  78), 
where  the  small  mass  of  the  distant  trees  and 
houses  balances  the  larger  mass  of  the  fore- 
ground trees  and  shadow,  and  in  Mist  in  the 
Valley  (page  40),  in  which  the  hills  and  the 
foreground  poplar  balance  across  an  imaginary 
axis  within  the  picture,  as  well  as  in  A  Hillside 
Pasture  (page  54),  Easterly  Weather  (page 
204)  and  Leylet  el  Wahshah  (page  304). 


52 


COMPOSITION 

$ 

Several  of  the  pictures  just  mentioned  illus- 
trate a  very  important  factor  in  pictorial  work 
—namely,  the  use  of  a  leading  line.  The  lead- 
ing line  is  perhaps  of  more  value  in  landscape 
than  in  any  other  'branch  of  the  work,  and  its 
importance  may  be  realized  by  the  student  if  he 
will  imagine  these  pictures  lacking  that  ele- 
ment. That  is,  try  to  think  of  the  Summer 
Landscape  without  the  road,  and  Mist  in  the 
Valley  without  the  line  of  the  fence,  and  it  will 
be  seen  that  either  one  would  break  down  into 
two  disconnected  and  unrelated  masses.  In 
addition  to  connecting  the  factors  of  the  pic- 
tures, the  line  serves  in  each  case  to  conduct  the 
eye  into  the  distance,  thus  furthering  the  illu- 
sion of  three  dimensions  and  lending  verisimil- 
itude to  the  whole.  Instances  innumerable  of 
the  use  of  such  a  line  may  be  found,  for  it  is  one 
of  the  strongest  artifices  of  the  graphic  artist, 
though,  as  has  been  said,  of  more  use  in  land- 
scape than  in  portraiture.  In  the  latter  branch 
of  the  work  the  leading  line  generally  appears 
in  a  flat  plane  rather  than  in  perspective,  and 
the  line  of  a  gown,  an  arm,  or  some  piece  of 
furniture  may  serve  to  carry  the  eye  toward 

53 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

the  sitter's  face,  this  use  being  exemplified  in 
the  portrait  by  Miss  Collier  (page  268). 

In  "  Pictorial  Composition  and  the  Critical 
Judgment  of  Pictures,"  Henry  R.  Poore  dis- 
tinguishes seven  fundamental  forms  of  compo- 
sition: (1)  the  scales,  (2)  the  triangle,  (3)  the 
circle,  (4)  the  cross,  (5)  radii,  (6)  the  line  of 
curvature  (i.e.,  the  S  or  its  equivalent,  the  zig- 
zag), and  (7)  the  rectangle,  these  forms  being 
inferred  from  an  extensive  study  of  pictures 
which  have  shown  themselves  to  be  satisfactory 
in  the  matter  of  composition.  That  is,  when  a 
picture  is  found  to  be  satisfactorily  arranged, 
an  analysis  of  its  structure  is  practically  certain 
to  reveal  the  fact  that  the  chief  masses  (and 
often  the  minor  ones  as  well)  take  one  or  an- 
other of  these  forms,  either  in  a  flat  plane  or  in 
perspective,  and  it  may  happen  that  two  or 
more  of  these  forms  can  be  distinguished  in  one 
picture.  Thus,  it  may  be  found  that  in  some 
picture  the  cross  is  superposed  on  the  curve,  or 
the  circle  is  contained  within  the  triangle;  but 
this  does  not  vitiate  the  analysis — it  rather 
tends  to  strengthen  it.  Mr.  Poore  also  shows 
six  fundamental  forms  of  chiaroscuro,  these  be- 

54 


COMPOSITION 

ing  found  in  -combination  with  the  structural 
forms  already  indicated,  and  deserving  especial 
attention  from  the  photographer,  since  atten- 
tion to  light  and  shade,  rather  than  to  line, 
tends  to  cultivate  a  quality  of  breadth  in  the 
artist's  work.  Mr.  Poore's  analysis  of  the  sub- 
ject of  composition  is  masterly,  and  he  ap- 
proaches the  subject  from  the  standpoint  which 
has  already  been  indicated  as  that  best  suited 
to  the  photographer  (that  is,  the  analytic) ;  so 
it  is  unquestionably  the  case  that  a  careful 
study  of  the  book  in  question,  together  with 
the  study  of  pictures  to  which  it  encourages  the 
reader,  will,  if  properly  assimilated,  produce  a 
familiarity  with  sound  composition  which  can- 
not fail  to  manifest  itself  in  spontaneous  and 
unconscious  selection  of  the  good  arrangements 
presented  >by  nature  to  the  photographer. 

One  paragraph  in  particular  of  Mr.  Poore's 
book  should  be  memorized  by  every  photog- 
rapher, as  it  contains  in  a  nutshell  the  whole 
theory  of  selective  composition:  "When  in 
nature  we  observe  a  scene  that  naturally  fits  a 
frame  and  we  find  ourselves  gazing  first  at  one 
object  and  then  at  another  and  returning  again 

55 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

to  the  first,  we  may  be  sure  it  will  make  a  pic- 
ture. But  when  we  are  tempted  to  turn,  in  the 
inspection  of  the  whole  horizon  *  *  *  it 
proves  we  have  not  found  a  picture."  To  this 
the  present  writer  would  only  add  that  so  far 
as  the  photographer  is  concerned  this  examina- 
tion should  preferably  be  made  through  a  ray- 
filter,  so  as  to  remove  the  disturbing  element  of 
color,  for  it  will  not  infrequently  be  found  that 
a  subject  which  is  thoroughly  satisfactory  in 
color  loses  all  its  beauty  when  reduced  to  mono- 
chrome. It  is  well,  too,  to  make  the  final  in- 
spection on  the  focussing  screen,  at  all  events 
until  a  good  deal  of  experience  has  been  at- 
tained, for  our  binocular,  stereoscopic  vision 
often  deceives  us  into  making  exposures  on 
subjects  which  are  dull  and  uninteresting  when 
seen  with  the  single  eye  of  the  camera. 

One  important  element  in  balance  deserves 
careful  consideration,  for  it  is  vital  in  genre, 
almost  equally  so  in  portraiture,  and  by  no 
means  to  be  ignored  in  landscape — that  is,  bal- 
ance by  motion  toward  an  area.  When  any  ele- 
ment in  the  picture  is  shown  apparently  moving 
in  any  direction  the  observer's  eye  is  powerfully 

56 


A  HILLSIDE  PASTURE 
BY  W.  E.  MACNAUGHTAN 

From  a  Platinum  Print 


COMPOSITION 

carried  in  the  direction  of  the  apparent  motion, 
and  this  form  of  balance  gives  more  vigor  and 
life  to  the  composition  than  any  other.  One 
of  the  weaknesses  of  all  forms  of  graphic  and 
glyptic  art  (if  we  except  the  motion-picture) 
is  that  it  can  only  suggest  and  cannot  actually 
show  motion,  and  balance  by  apparent  motion 
aids  this  suggestion  to  a  remarkable  degree. 
This  mode  of  balance  may  be  secured  in  genre 
by  having  one  or  more  of  the  figures  actively 
engaged  in  doing  something;  in  portraiture  it 
may  be  attained  by  having  the  sitter  turn  his 
head  at  an  angle  to  his  body,  or  if  out- doors  by 
having  the  garments  wind-blown  (obviously, 
this  applies  to  genre  also) ;  and  in  landscape 
the  effect  may  be  given  by  the  apparent  blow- 
ing of  trees,  the  movement  of  clouds,  or  the 
action  of  some  small  subordinate  figure  within 
the  picture,  examples  being  found  in  Evening 
Breezes  (page  90),  Illustration  for  a  Story 
(page  28),  and  the  frontispiece,  as  well  as  in 
several  other  reproductions  in  this  book.  In 
any  case,  the  effect  is  of  great  value.  It  will,  of 
course,  be  understood  that  this  form  of  balance 
may  be — and  often  is — used  in  conjunction 

57 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

with  others,  for  the  artist  is  under  no  restriction 
as  to  the  mode  of  securing  a  result.  A  great 
artist  once  said  to  the  writer:  "  I  don't  care 
how  a  man  gets  his  effect,  so  long  as  he  gets  it," 
and  this  is  an  excellent  motto  for  the  pictorial 
photographer;  in  art,  as  in  other  matters,  the 
only  thing  that  counts  is  that  the  result  is  good. 
It  is  a  well-recognized  fact,  which  must  by 
no  means  be  ignored  by  the  pictorial  worker, 
that  different  types  of  line  carry  different  sug- 
gestions, this  circumstance  being  partly  due  to 
the  muscular  effort  required  to  follow  a  line 
with  the  eye,  and  partly  to  racial  association. 
Each  change  in  direction  of  a  line  calls  for  an 
effort  to  change  the  motion  of  the  eyeball,  and 
when  the  changes  are  abrupt  more  exertion  is 
necessary  than  when  they  are  more  gradual, 
so  that  one  can  follow  a  straight  or  a  curved 
line  more  readily  than  a  zig-zag  one.  Probably 
the  immediate  effect  of  this  condition  is  slight, 
but  its  operation  through  many  generations  has 
produced  an  association  which  is  of  importance 
in  directing  our  attitude  toward  certain  forms 
of  linear  arrangement.  Ever  -since  man  first 
began  to  notice  his  surroundings  (except  with 

58 


COMPOSITION 

an  eye  to  food),  and  especially  since  religious 
beliefs  began  to  take  form,  we  have  been  ac- 
customed to  associate  certain  types  of  line  with 
certain  mental  impressions.  The  vertical  lines 
of  trees  and  of  ascending  smoke,  the  horizontal 
lines  of  a  flat  country,  the  curving  lines  of 
wind-blown  trees,  the  slanting  lines  of  driven 
rain,  have  all  played  their  part  in  arousing, 
first  a  sensuous  and  then  an  emotional  re- 
sponse, so  that  to-day  the  consequent  associa- 
tions are  deeply  rooted  in  our  nature. 

We  have  for  many  thousands  of  years  asso- 
ciated the  act  of  looking  upward  with  a  feeling 
of  reverence  and  worship — "  I  will  lift  up  mine 
eyes  unto  the  hills,  from  whence  cometh  my 
help  " — and  this  circumstance  is  probably  the 
basis  of  the  fact  that  the  vertical  line  carries 
with  it  an  inherent  suggestion  of  majesty  and 
grandeur:  the  spectator  is  unconsciously  re- 
minded of  thoughts  of  worship.  Normally,  the 
eye  tends  to  maintain  an  approximate  level,  but 
it  is  readily  carried  upward  by  a  vertical  line, 
thus  stirring  the  corresponding  mental  atti- 
tude, and  this  fact  was  made  use  of  to  a  great 
extent  by  the  architects  of  Egypt  and  Greece, 

59 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

though  it  may  be  doubted  if  they  ever  analyzed 
the  reason  for  the  effect  so  obtained.  It  fol- 
lows that  when  a  suggestion  of  strength,  ma- 
jesty, or  nobility  is  desired,  the  vertical  line 
should  be  the  dominating  one  in  the  composi- 
tion, whether  the  picture  is  a  landscape,  a  por- 
trait, or  any  other  arrangement,  though,  of 
course,  opposing  or  diverting  factors  may 
operate  to  modify  the  effect  of  the  verticals,  as, 
for  example,  in  Sycamores  (page  228),  where 
the  vertical  lines  are  so  broken  by  the  foliage 
and  so  crossed  by  horizontal  and  sinuous  lines 
that  the  effect  is  one  of  quiet  rather  than  of 
majesty.  Comparing  this  with  Easterly 
Weather  (page  204),  it  wrill  be  seen  that  a 
totally  different  expression  results  when  the 
general  form  of  the  composition  is  of  a  vertical 
tendency,  and  in  The  Woods  of  Colonos  (page 
66),  the  horizontal  arrangement  of  the  picture 
detracts  somewhat  from  the  strength  of  the 
vertical  lines  of  the  trees. 

The  chief  characteristic  of  a  calm  and  peace- 
ful landscape  is  usually  the  predominance  of 
horizontal  lines ;  and  this,  possibly  in  combina- 
tion with  the  fact  that  we  generally  assume  a 

60 


COMPOSITION 

horizontal  position  when  resting,  accounts  for 
the  fact  that  a  composition  showing  mainly 
horizontal  lines  carries  with  it  a  suggestion  of 
rest  and  quiet — there  is  nothing  stimulating  or 
exciting  about  it,  and  the  observer  uncon- 
sciously relaxes  at  sight  of  such  a  picture.  If 
it  is  found  that  a  landscape  so  constructed  is 
too  quiet,  relief  may  be  obtained,  without  intro- 
ducing an  element  of  actual  unrest,  by  the  addi- 
tion of  rounded  cloud  forms,  for  example,  since 
we  associate  an  up -springing  curve  with  light- 
ness, buoyancy  and  the  light  and  airy  grace  of 
youth.  Of  course,  other  kinds  of  line  may  also 
be  used  to  break  the  monotony  of  the  horizon- 
tal, this  being  merely  a  suggestion. 

In  contradistinction  to  the  horizontal  line,  the 
diagonal  suggests  motion.  In  the  writer's 
study  hangs  a  print  of  Frederic  Remington's 
picture,  Evening  on  a  Canadian  Lake.,  showing 
two  men  and  a  dog  in  a  bark  canoe,  gliding 
along  the  edge  of  the  dark  reflection  of  the 
woods,  and  the  main  line  of  the  picture  is  a 
diagonal,  where  the  dark  greenish-black  reflec- 
tion meets  the  blue  of  the  unshadowed  water. 
So  strong  is  the  suggestion  that  the  canoe  ae- 

61 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

tually  seems  to  move,  though  the  artist  has  so 
skilfully  adjusted  the  other  factors — the  deep 
shade  of  the  woods,  the  color  of  the  evening 
sunlight,  and  the  quality  of  the  ripples,  as  well 
as  the  attitudes  and  expressions  of  the  actors — 
that  the  motion  is  evidently  slow.  One  look- 
ing at  the  print  knows  as  well  as  if  told  in 
words  that  these  men  are  paddling  leisurely 
along,  searching  for  a  good  camp;  and  it  is 
suggestion  of  this  kind  that  is  worth  while — 
one  can  almost  smell  the  'balsam  boughs  on 
which  these  men  will  sleep.  Of  course,  for  the 
suggestion  of  the  picture  to  be  fully  operative 
it  must  fall  within  the  observer's  experience ;  a 
city  dweller  who  had  never  paddled  along  a 
lake  at  dusk  would  not  smell  the  fresh,  cool  air 
of  evening  and  the  pungent  odor  of  the  ever- 
greens, would  not  hear  the  swish  and  ripple  of 
the  water  along  the  sides  of  the  frail  canoe,  nor 
would  he  see  in  memory  the  flash  and  sparkle 
of  a  leaping  fish ;  but  no  one  could  miss  the  sug- 
gestion, the  feeling  of  motion  that  comes  from 
the  artist's  skill. 

The  sinuous  line  is  associated  in  our  minds 
with  grace  and  beauty,  and  instances  innumer- 

62 


COMPOSITION 

able  arise  to  support  this  contention.  The 
curves  of  the  human  body  (most  beautiful  of 
all  animal  forms)  the  lines  of  all  wild  animals, 
the  curves  of  a  snake — if  one  can  free  his  mind 
of  the  customary  but  abnormal  and  foolish 
prejudice  against  snakes,  and  really  look  at 
one,  he  will  see  that  it  is  a  creature  of  incom- 
parable grace — everywhere  we  look  we  see  that 
curving  lines  are  lines  of  grace  and  easy  mo- 
tion. Herbert  Spencer  analyzed  grace  and 
reached  the  conclusion  that  the  most  graceful 
motion  is  the  one  which  accomplishes  the  de- 
sired result  with  the  least  effort,  and  this  is 
perhaps  the  cause  of  our  appreciation  of  cer- 
tain lines  and  motions  as  graceful,  for  the  most 
pleasing  line  is  the  one  which  the  eye  follows 
with  the  least  muscular  effort,  provided  only 
that  there  is  some  variation  inherent  in  it — a 
straight  line  is  the  most  direct,  but  is  apt  to  be 
rigid  and  unyielding.  Hogarth  went  so  far  as 
to  select  from  a  number  of  curves  one  which 
he  designated  "  the  line  of  beauty,"  declaring 
it  to  be  the  most  beautiful  of  all  lines,  though 
probably  not  everyone  would  agree  with  him — 
it  rarely  happens  that  two  persons  think  ex- 

63 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

actly  alike  on  any  subject,  particularly  in 
matters  of  taste.  Still,  the  sinuous  line  is  the 
one  to  be  made  the  most  of  when  the  desire  is 
to  express  the  characteristics  indicated. 

The  zig-zag  line  is  just  the  reverse  of  the  sin- 
uous, for  it  demands  sudden  and  abrupt 
changes  in  the  direction  of  motion  of  the  eye, 
whereas  with  the  curved  line  the  changes  are 
gradual  in  their  nature.  For  this  reason  the 
zig-zag  line  typifies  unrest  and  instability, 
quick- darting  and  changing  motion,  like  the 
flight  of  a  bat  or  a  sparrow,  an  illustration  be- 
ing found  in  Meissen  (page  178) ,  though  here 
the  artist  has  so  skilfully  countered  the  diag- 
onals with  other  diagonals  and  with  verticals 
that  the  picture  holds  within  the  frame. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the 
introduction  of  a  line  of  any  particular  type  is 
sufficient  to  carry  the  desired  suggestion,  nor, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  the  suggestive  effect  of 
a  line  may  not  be  counter-balanced  by  some 
other  factor  in  the  arrangement  of  the  pattern. 
In  the  Remington  picture  referred  to  the  main 
diagonal  line  is  countered  by  the  curved  lines 
of  the  canoe  and  by  the  verticals  of  the  men's 

64 


COMPOSITION  t 

bodies,  so  that  the  suggestion  of  motion  is 
strongly  modified;  and  in  Sycamores,  as  al- 
ready stated,  the  verticals  are  entirely  over- 
powered by  the  horizontals  and  the  curves.  In 
fact,  a  composition  making  use  of  one  type  of 
line  to  excess  becomes  either  monotonous  and 
tiresome  or  restless  and  fidgety,  whatever  the 
character  of  the  picture,  and  every  element 
must  be  taken  into  account  if  the  result  is  to 
be  a  unified  and  harmonious  whole. 

One  fact  which  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
in  connection  with  the  matter  of  line  is  that 
the  eye  tends  to  follow  a  vertical  or  a  diagonal 
line  up  rather  than  down,  and  a  horizontal  or 
a  diagonal  one  from  left  to  right,  this  latter 
circumstance  being  of  course  the  result  of  our 
custom  of  reading  in  that  direction.  The  same 
observation  applies  to  curved  and  zig-zag  lines, 
and  it  will  be  found  that  this  fact  enters  into 
the  question  of  composition  to  a  marked  degree. 

One  of  the  most  debated  points  in  photog- 
raphy is  the  question  of  detail,  with  regard  to 
how  much  to  include  and  how  much  to  leave 
out,  and  it  may  be  remarked  that  this  discussion 
is  not  confined  to  camera  work,  but  is  found  in 

5  65 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

the  whole  realm  of  art.  A  well-known  author 
once  remarked  to  the  present  writer:  "  I  don't 
dare  tell  my  stories  as  they  actually  happened ; 
people  would  say  that  I  was  exaggerating 
wildly,  that  such  things  couldn't  possibly  oc- 
cur; so  I  am  obliged  to  tone  down  the  inci- 
dents." In  graphic  art  the  trouble  is  that 
excessive  detail  distracts  attention  from  the 
main  thought  or  object,  and  though  the  painter 
or  the  etcher  can  simply  leave  out  superfluous 
detail,  the  photographer  must  resort  to  some 
positive  means  of  eliminating  it.  It  was  for 
this  purpose — as  well  as  to  soften  outlines — 
that  the  soft-focus  lens  was  first  designed,  and 
such  objectives  are  used,  either  by  themselves 
or  in  conjunction  with  modifications  of  ex- 
posure and  development,  special  printing  medi- 
ums, and  hand  work  on  either  negative  or  print 
or  both,  to  get  rid  of  the  superfluous  and  inju- 
rious detail  ordinarily  given  by  the  camera. 
Breadth  of  handling  is  a  most  desirable  quality, 
and  the  fewer  the  details  or  gradations  em- 
ployed the  greater  the  chance  of  the  message 
carrying.  A  young  reporter  was  once  sent  out 
to  get  the  story  of  a  train  wreck,  and  tele- 

66 


COMPOSITION 

graphed  back  to  the  office:  "  Good  for  six  col- 
umns.'' The  editor  of  the  paper  replied:  "  Tell 
it  in  one,"  and  the  youngster  promptly  re- 
sponded: "Can't  be  done."  The  reply  was: 
"  Try  it,  you  fool.  Story  of  Creation  told  in  six 
hundred  words."  Evidently,  no  general  rule 
can  be  given — each  picture  must  be  judged  by 
itself  in  this  respect — but  one  broad  statement 
may  be  made;  just  so  much  detail  should  be 
included  as  helps  to  carry  the  message;  any 
which  does  not  help  is  harmful,  and  none  can 
be  indifferent. 

An  element  in  composition  which  is  at  times 
most  useful  is  repetition,  and  this  may  be  made 
to  serve  as  a  reinforcement  of  either  the  princi- 
pal object  or  any  other,  or  it  may  be  made  to 
lessen  the  force  of  an  object  or  a  line.  In  the 
Landscape  by  Karl  Struss  ("Pictorial  Pho- 
tography," page  82)  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
repetition  of  the  vertical  lines  of  the  trees  les- 
sens the  force  of  each;  the  attention  is  divided 
among  several  instead  of  being  concentrated  on 
any  particular  tree,  as  would  be  the  case  if  one 
stood  alone.  On  the  other  hand,  in  Evening 
Breezes  (page  90  of  the  present  volume)  the 

67 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

repetition  of  the  cloud  forms  aids  the  sugges- 
tion of  motion,  because  the  clouds  are  so  placed 
that  the  eye  travels  from  one  to  another  along 
a  diagonal  line.  In  other  words,  we  have  here 
an  instance  of  repetition  with  variation,  which 
emphasizes  tHe  motive  of  the  picture.  In  The 
Woods  of  Colonos  (page  66) ,  we  find  that  the 
repetition  of  the  vertical  lines  of  the  tree  trunks 
detracts  from  the  vigor  of  any  one  particular 
tree,  but  aids  the  suggestion  of  majesty  by  re- 
inforcing the  feeling  of  the  verticals.  In  por- 
traiture the  vertical  repetition  may  be  used  with 
good  effect  in  the  case  of  a  full  length,  which  is 
always  hard  to  compose,  for  it  may  be  em- 
ployed to  hold  the  figure  within  the  frame;  a 
series  of  verticals  in  the  background  draws  the 
eye  from  the  main  vertical  and  helps  to  carry 
the  attention  through  the  entire  picture  space. 
Other  uses  of  this  principle  will  suggest 
themselves  to  the  worker,  but  care  must  be 
taken  not  to  overdo  the  matter,  or  the  result 
will  be  very  unpleasant.  The  writer  has  seen 
a  photograph  in  which  the  rounded,  buoyant 
forms  of  cumulus  clouds  were  used  to  repeat 
the  forms  of  trees,  but  the  repetition  was  carried 

68 


THE  WOODS  OF  COLONO 
BY  H.  Y.  SUMMONS 

From  a  Carbon  Print 


COMPOSITION 

so  far  that  the  effect  was  simply  ridiculous.  A 
great  caricaturist  once  said  that  the  essential 
foundation  of  caricature  is  to  exaggerate 
slightly  one  feature  of  the  subject,  and  that  the 
excessive  exaggeration  of  this  feature,  or  the 
exaggeration  of  more  than  one,  produces  a  gro- 
tesque and  not  a  caricature.  This  saying 
might  well  be  taken  to  heart  by  all  artists,  for 
the  inordinate  use  of  any  one  element,  be  it 
repetition,  contrast  or  anything  else,  vitiates  the 
whole,  by  calling  attention  to  the  artifice  em- 
ployed. Illusions  are  destroyed  by  a  trip  be- 
hind the  scenes,  when  we  recognize  the  windlass 
by  means  of  which  the  gods  ascend  and  descend 
Mount  Olympus. 

It  is  necessaiy  that  a  suitable  entrance  and 
exit  be  found  in  the  picture.  That  is  to  say, 
the  eye  must  first  be  attracted  by  some  element, 
must  then  follow  in  an  orderly  progression 
through  the  picture  space;  and,  when  the  cir- 
cuit has  been  completed,  each  element  having 
received  the  proper  amount  of  attention,  the 
eye  must  be  gracefully  conducted  out  of  the 
frame.  Few  things  are  more  annoying  than  a 
picture  in  which  the  entrance  is  obstructed  by 

69 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

some  insistent  accent,  or  one  which  is  so  ar- 
ranged that  the  eye  follows  again  and  again 
over  the  entire  space  without  a  chance  of  leav- 
ing off.  The  writer  has  seen  a  photograph  in 
which  the  eye  was  obliged  to  travel  around  and 
around  an  ellipse,  and,  like  the  boy  who  ran 
after  a  trolley-car  and  caught  it,  couldn't  let 
go,  a  violent  effort  being  necessary  in  order  to 
stop  looking  at  the  print.  In  landscape  the 
sky  generally  furnishes  an  exit,  but  in  por- 
traiture the  artist  must  carefully  arrange  one, 
the  frequently  seen  head  set  against  a  plain 
background  having  been  aptly  termed  the 
"  walk  in  and  back  out "  style  of  portraiture, 
and  possessing  no  possible  merit  beyond  that 
of  likeness.  It  is  equally  ungracious  to  ask  a 
person  to  one's  house  and  confront  him  with  a 
barred  door  or  to  invite  him  in  and  insist  on  his 
remaining  after  he  feels  that  the  time  has  come 
for  him  to  leave,  and  the  artist  who  makes 
either  entrance  to  or  exit  from  his  picture  diffi- 
cult infallibly  leaves  a  bad  impression  and  di- 
minishes the  likelihood  of  a  second  visit. 


Ill 

VALUES 

THE  term  "  values  "  may  be  defined  as  the 
intensity  of  light  reflected  from  objects,  though 
this  definition  is  not  precisely  correct  from  the 
pictorialist's  point  of  view,  since  some  colors 
have  a  psychic  effect  different  from  their  ac- 
tual photometric  value.  Thus,  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  associate  yellow  with  light  and 
warmth,  so  a  yellow  object  may  appear  lighter 
to  the  eye — or,  rather,  to  the  mind — than,  say, 
a  violet  object  which  has  the  same  reflecting 
power.  Nevertheless,  the  definition  as  given 
may  be  accepted  as  generally  satisfactory. 

It  must  be  understood  that  the  light  values 
of  a  given  object  are  by  no  means  constant,  for 
they  vary  with  the  quality  and  intensity  of  the 
incident  illumination,  and  even  under  a  given 
light  they  are  not  necessarily  always  the  same, 
so  far  as  the  pictorial  effect  is  concerned.  For 
example,  suppose  one  is  standing,  about  sun- 
set, facing  the  west,  and  there  is  a  row  of  trees 

in  the  middle  distance.    The  eyes  will  naturally 

71 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

accommodate  themselves  to  the  illumination  of 
the  sky,  and  as  a  result  of  the  contraction  of 
the  pupils  no  detail  will  be  seen  in  the  dark  mass 
of  the  trees,  which  will  appear  opaque  and 
empty  of  gradation,  and  of  an  intense  black- 
ness. If,  however,  the  eyes  be  shaded  from  the 
light  of  the  sky,  details  and  gradations  will  leap 
out  in  a  most  astonishing  manner  in  the  trees 
and  foreground.  Suppose,  now,  that  after 
looking  at  the  trees  with  the  eyes  shaded  for  a 
time,  the  gaze  is  again  directed  at  the  sky,  and 
it  will  be  found  that  this,  which  before  may 
have  had  considerable  gradation,  now  appears 
white  and  blank,  if,  indeed,  it  is  possible  to  look 
at  it  for  more  than  a  second  or  so.  From  this 
it  is  evident  that  the  values  in  any  arrangement 
must  be  considered  in  relation  to  one  another, 
and  as  a  whole — that  it  is  impossible  to  say 
definitely  that  such  and  such  a  value  must  be 
thus  and  so.  In  each  case  the  desired  effect 
must  be  taken  into  consideration.  In  the  in- 
stance given,  if  the  interest  happens  to  be  in  the 
sky  it  will  be  perfectly  proper,  and  a  correct 
rendering  of  the  appearance  of  the  scene,  if  the 
foreground  is  underexposed,  so  that  the  mass 

72 


VALUES 

of  the  trees  is  made  black  in  the  print,  whereas 
if  the  interest  is  in  the  trees  it  will  be  proper  to 
allow  the  sky  to  be  nearly  empty  of  gradation, 
and  if  the  picture  depends  on  interest  in  both 
sky  and  trees  it  will  obviously  be  necessary  to 
adjust  the  exposure  and  development  so  that 
gradation  is  retained  in  both  portions,  or  the 
result  will  be  a  failure.  To  secure  the  proper 
inter-relation  of  exposure  and  development  for 
this  last  effect  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  prob- 
lems in  photographic  technique,  and  demands  a 
non-halation,  color-sensitive  plate,  and  a  ray- 
filter,  as  without  these  aids  correct  exposure  for 
the  trees  will  mean  gross  over-exposure  for  the 
sky.  In  working  for  the  second  effect — a  con- 
centration of  interest  in  the  trees — it  will  ordi- 
narily be  well  to  retain  some  slight  gradation 
in  the  sky,  but  even  if  it  is  decided  to  discard 
such  gradation  care  should  be  taken  that  the 
sky  retains  some  tone,  for  a  blank  sky  is  never 
true  either  to  fact  or  to  appearance — the  sky 
never  actually  seems  white  to  us. 

In  the  vast  majority  of  cases  it  is  impossible 
to  represent  the  actual  values  of  a  scene  by  any 
graphic  medium  whatever,  though  in  some  spe- 

73 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

cial  cases  this  may  be  done.  The  scale  of  the 
actual  values  of  most  compositions  far  exceeds 
the  possible  range  of  any  medium,  because  the 
artist  is  limited  for  his  highest  light  to  white 
pigment  (in  the  case  of  the  photographer  to 
white  paper)  which  always  absorbs  some  light; 
and  for  his  black,  to  black  pigment,  which  al- 
ways reflects  some  of  the  incident  light.  A 
landscape  may  include  the  sun,  which  has  an 
intensity  of  millions  of  candle-power,  or  even 
if  this  is  not  within  the  limits  of  the  picture  the 
intensity  of  the  sky  may  still  be  far  above  any- 
thing which  can  be  truly  represented  by  white 
paper,  especially  since  the  picture  is  generally 
examined  indoors,  by  a  relatively  weak  light; 
in  fact,  the  deepest  shadow  in  a  landscape  may 
easily  reflect  more  light  than  the  highest  pos- 
sible light  in  a  photograph  of  the  scene.  Sim- 
ilarly, the  shadows  of  a  night  scene  are  dark 
beyond  anything  possible  to  photography,  and 
it  is  hopeless  to  attempt  an  accurate  reproduc- 
tion of  them  as  they  in  fact  are.  It  is,  however, 
possible  to  secure  a  satisfactory  representation 
of  almost  any  scene  by  a  correct  adjustment  of 
the  relative  values,  and,  indeed,  were  it  not  for 

74 


VALUES 

this  fact  no  graphic  representation  of  any  sub- 
ject— or  almost  any — would  be  possible  at  all. 
If  we  choose  blank  paper  for  the  highest  light 
of  the  picture — which,  by  the  way,  should 
rarely  be  done,  it  being  usually  better  to  have 
some  tone,  even  in  the  extreme  lights — and  the 
deepest  black  we  can  command  for  the  darkest 
shadow,  and  in  between  these  we  adjust  all  the 
other  values  in  their  proper  relation  to  the  high- 
est light  and  the  deepest  dark  of  the  original, 
the  picture  will  carry  the  suggestion  desired. 
In  fact,  it  is  not  even  necessary  to  use  the  full 
scale  of  the  paper,  for  if  the  values  are  cor- 
rectly adjusted  among  themselves  the  effect 
may  be  as  good  as  though  the  full  range  of 
tones  possible  were  employed,  and  from  the  pic- 
torial standpoint  it  may  be  a  great  deal  better. 
The  writer  has  seen  a  picture  in  which  the  high- 
est light  was  a  light  gray  and  the  deepest  dark 
no  darker  than  a  medium  gray,  yet  the  sug- 
gestion of  moonlight  was  perfect,  simply  be- 
cause the  internal  relationship  of  the  values  had 
been  adjusted  with  absolute  accuracy.  In 
passing,  it  should  be  observed  that  though  the 
shadows  of  a  moonlit  landscape  are  intensely 

75 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

black  they  never  seem  flat  to  the  eye ;  there  is 
always  a  sense  of  space  and  depth  within  them. 
The  writer  is  not  prepared  to  state  whether  this 
is  a  psychic  effect,  due  to  our  knowledge  that 
depth  actually  exists  there,  or  is  a  physical 
phenomenon,  (arising,  as  one  author  claims, 
from  the  existence  of  an  inherent  luminosity 
within  the  eye;  but  the  fact  remains  that  a  flat, 
empty  black  does  not  truly  suggest  the  shadows 
of  a  moonlight  scene.  To  obtain  the  true  im- 
pression, some  light  must  be  found  in  the 
darker  portions  of  the  print,  and  this  may  take 
the  form  of  a  slight  gradation  or,  preferably, 
a  luminosity  of  the  darks  themselves,  as  in 
the  case  of  a  carbon  or  multiple  gum  print,  a 
heavily-inked  oil,  or,  least  effective  of  all,  a 
varnished  platinum. 

The  writer  has  described  elsewhere  *  the 
methods  to  be  employed  for  the  correct  ren- 
dering of  relative  values,  so  this  need  not  be 
recapitulated  here,  but  it  is  worthy  of  note  that 
although  it  is  sometimes  possible  to  reproduce 
the  actual  values,  as  in  the  case  of  a  portrait  or 
a  still-life,  it  is  seldom  worth  the  effort,  since 

*"  Pictorial  Photography,  Its  Principles  and  Pfactice,"  Chap- 
ters III  and  IV. 

76 


VALUES 

the  values  thus  obtained  are  correct  for  only 
one  definite  intensity  of  viewing  illumination, 
and  truthful  adjustment  of  the  relative  values 
will  give  the  desired  effect  within  a  wide  range 
of  key.  To  be  sure,  correct  actual  values  imply 
correct  relative  values,  but  the  reverse  is  not 
necessarily  the  case.  Of  course,  the  actual  val- 
ues must  be  somewhere  near  right — a  portrait 
is  not  convincing  if  the  face  is  a  dark  gray — 
but  precise  adjustment  of  the  internal  relation 
and  an  approximation  to  the  true  values  will 
be  satisfactory. 

A  correct  rendering  of  the  relative  values, 
though  it  gives  a  true  impression  of  the  scene, 
is  apt  to  be  pictorially  unsatisfactory,  since  na- 
ture, though  almost  always  pictorial,  commands 
effects  which  are  beyond  the  powers  of  the  ar- 
tist to  imitate.  As  has  been  pointed  out,  the 
artist's  limited  powers  oblige  him  to  resort  to 
finesse,  to  dealing  in  symbols,  and  one  of  the 
most  effective  of  his  artifices  is  the  modification 
of  relative  values.  Therefore,  he  darkens  a 
light  here,  lightens  a  shadow  there,  perhaps 
obliterating  entirely  some  obtrusive  spot;  and 
thus,  by  producing  an  effect  which  is  impres- 
sive rather  than  truthful,  he  conveys  his  mes- 

77 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

sage — a  message  which  would  be  conveyed  far 
better  by  an  actual  rendering  of  the  scene,  were 
such  a  thing  possible ;  whereas,  if  he  adhered  to 
the  truth,  so  far  as  it  lies  within  his  abilities  to 
do  so,  the  result  would  be  dull,  mechanical  and 
uninteresting.  If  we  stand  facing  the  west 
just  after  sunset,  while  the  sky  is  still  glowing 
with  color,  and  look  across  broad  fields  of  grass 
or  grain,  we  shall  see  that  the  sky  is  intensely 
luminous  and  the  foreground  is  a  light  gray- 
green.  This  relationship  can  be  rendered  per- 
fectly if  a  non-halation,  color-sensitive  plate  be 
used  with  a  suitable  ray-filter,  provided  care  is 
taken  with  the  exposure,  development,  and 
printing;  but  the  result  will  not  necessarily 
suggest  the  original,  for  the  same  effect  can  be 
obtained  at  mid-day  if  there  is  just  enough  haze 
to  prevent  the  formation  of  cast  shadows,  and 
the  photograph  may  represent  either  of  these 
effects.  The  painter  can  suggest  the  scene  in 
its  true  values,  for  the  evening  color  is  not  at 
all  like  that  of  noon,  but  the  photographer  can 
accomplish  the  result  only  by  falsification  of 
values.  By  developing  his  plate  a  little  more 

strongly  than  for  a  truthful  result,  so  that  by 

78 


VALUES 

the  time  the  sky  has  assumed  its  proper  tone  in 
the  print  the  foreground  is  too  dark,  he  can 
make  the  picture  suggest  the  time  of  day  when 
it  was  taken,  and  this  has  been  done  by  Mr. 
Summons  in  his  print,  Leylet  el  Wahshah 
(page  304 ) .  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  if  like 
treatment  is  accorded  a  similar  picture  taken  at 
or  about  noon  on  a  hazy  day,  the  suggestion  of 
evening  may  be  secured,  provided  a  suitable 
color  is  chosen  for  the  print.  The  photog- 
rapher has  one  advantage  over  the  painter,  this 
resulting  from  the  fact  that  although  the  color 
of  objects  differs  at  different  times  of  day  it 
often  happens  that  the  relative  values  are  the 
same,  so  that  by  proper  manipulation — not 
necessarily  involving  any  hand  work — the  cam- 
era user  can  frequently  give  an  entirely  differ- 
ent interpretation  of  the  scene  from  that 
afforded  by  nature.  Thus,  a  picture  taken 
about  dawn  may,  by  printing  in  >a  low  key,  be 
made  to  simulate  an  evening  scene,  and  one 
taken  near  twilight  may,  by  choosing  a  high 
key,  be  made  to  look  like  early  morning.  This 
plan  may  be  of  use  when  the  objects  and  pat- 
tern of  the  scene  suggest  some  particular  time 

79 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

of  day,  but  when  it  is  not  possible  to  secure  the 
desired  angle  of  light  at  that  hour. 

Contrast  is  one  of  the  most  useful  tools  in  the 
artist's  kit,  and  may  be  employed  in  many 
ways.  Thus,  a  horizontal  line  may  be  contrasted 
with  a  vertical,  a  young  model  with  an  old  one, 
and  so  on,  but  it  is  particularly  contrast  of  light 
and  shade  which  will  be  referred  to  here. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  ef- 
fect of  contrasting  one  space  of  light  or  dark 
with  another  is  to  intensify  the  value  of  each, 
and  this  fact  is  of  primary  importance.  A  pic- 
ture which  is  entirely  in  a  low  key  is  apt  to  look 
muddy,  if  in  a  medium  key  it  may  be  dull  and 
characterless,  and  if  the  key  is  high  the  result 
may  seem  pale  and  washed-out.  If,  however, 
a  suitable  amount  of  contrast  is  introduced,  the 
picture  brightens  up  or  gains  solidity  in  a  most 
amazing  fashion,  and  often  but  a  slight  touch 
of  light  or  dark  is  necessary  to  accomplish  the 
purpose.  Try  to  imagine  the  clouds  lacking  in 
Evening  Breezes  (page  90) ,  or  the  sky  in  "Ley- 
let  el  Wdhshdh  (page  304)  a  flat  tone — even, 
if  necessary,  covering  these  touches  of  light  with 
pieces  of  paper  of  the  right  value,  so  as  to  get 

80 


A  SUMMER  LANDSCAPE 
BY  BERN  F.  EILERS 
From  a  Photogravure 


VALUES 

the  effect — and  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the 
result  in  each  case  is  a  decided  loss  of  vigor. 
But  what  is  perhaps  the  strongest  use  of  con- 
trast is  found  when  the  highest  light  and  the 
deepest  dark  are  placed  in  juxtaposition,  the  re- 
mainder of  the  picture  area  being  kept  in  a 
middle  tone,  for  by  this  means  the  concentration 
of  attention  is  great  and  the  force  of  both  light 
and  dark  is  augmented.  This  is  illustrated  in 
the  latter  of  the  pictures  mentioned,  in  which 
the  domes  of  the  buildings  receive  great  em- 
phasis from  the  proximity  of  the  strongly 
lighted  sky,  this  latter  in  turn  gaining  from  be- 
ing against  the  dark  spots  of  the  buildings. 
This  artifice  is  of  much  value  in  the  portraiture 
of  men  of  strong  character,  where  it  may  be  em- 
ployed to  call  attention  to  the  salient  points  of 
the  sitter's  personality.  In  the  present  volume 
contrast  is  illustrated  in  the  author's  portraits 
of  his  mother  (page  16) ,  and  of  Dr.  Edward  A. 
Reiley  (page  240),  both  of  these  persons  hav- 
ing been  of  marked  force  of  character;  and  the 
use  of  contrast  in  general  is  admirably  exempli- 
fied in  Illustration  for  a  Story  (page  28)  and 
The  Prelude  (page  166) .  In  Mr.  Killer's  and 

6  81 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Miss  Gilpin's  prints  the  rapid  yet  controlled 
interchange  of  light  and  dark  gives  a  brilliance 
and  snap  which  can  be  secured  in  no  other  way. 
The  danger  in  the  use  of  contrast  lies  in  the 
possibility  of  overdoing  it,  thus  producing 
either  spottiness  or  harshness,  or  both.  This  is 
a  common  fault  with  beginners,  who,  under- 
exposing and  overdeveloping  their  plates,  pro- 
duce what  has  been  termed  a  "  bald-headed 
sky,"  or  in  portraiture  have  one  side  of  the  face 
buried  in  shadow  while  the  other  is  blank  and 
lacking  in  tone.  The  safest  plan  to  follow  is 
to  construct  the  major  portion  of  the  picture  in 
a  medium  tone,  reserving  the  ends  of  the  scale 
for  emphasis.  This,  however,  is  not  a  method 
which  is  popular  with  the  author,  whose  motto 
is,  in  general,  "  Take  a  chance,"  rather  than 
"  Safety  first."  The  "  safety  first "  idea  un- 
questionably results  in  a  safe  and  comfortable 
existence,  but  it  lacks  excitement,  becoming 
flat,  stale  and  unprofitable,  in  art  as  in  life. 
"  Better  fifty  years  of  Europe  than  a  cycle  of 
Cathay  " ;  and  it  is  certain  that  the  strongest 
and  also  the  most  exquisite  pictures  are  con- 
structed at  one  end  or  the  other  of  the  scale,  the 

82 


VALUES 

$f~ 

light  or  the  dark  values  being  reserved  in  each 
case  for  use  in  small  areas,  to  give  either  weight 
or  brilliance. 

The  term  "  key  "  is  used  to  indicate  the  gen- 
eral character  of  the  values  in  a  picture — or,  in 
other  words,  the  pitch ;  a  picture  in  a  high  key 
being  one  which  has  no  large  areas  of  shadow 
below  a  light  or  medium  gray,  and  one  in  a  low 
key  being  so  adjusted  as  to  have  no  large  spaces 
of  bright  light.  A  medium  key  indicates  the 
absence  of  any  strong  lights  or  strong  darks  in 
large  measures,  and  a  full  scale  print  is  one  in 
which  the  entire  gamut  of  the  printing  medium 
is  employed,  the  areas  of  light  and  dark  being 
distributed  with  something  approximating  uni- 
formity throughout  the  scale.  The  choice  of 
key  has  tremendous  influence  on  the  psychic 
effect  of  the  picture,  as  will  be  seen. 

Our  racial  associations  are  such  that  we  are 
accustomed  to  regard  light  as  cheerful  and 
agreeable,  and  darkness  as  depressing,  this  fact 
being  shown  by  the  ordinary  connotation  of  the 
word  "  gloom,"  which  is  commonly  regarded  as 
meaning  "melancholy,"  whereas  the  primary 
significance  refers  simply  to  dusk  or  darkness. 
For  thousands  of  years,  before  we  had  artificial 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

light,  day  was  a  time  for  working  and  hunt- 
ing, but  night  was  a  time  of  peril  from  savage 
beasts,  the  added  terrors  of  the  imagination 
peopling  the  dark  with  malignant  beings  of 
superhuman  power,  for  the  religion  of  primi- 
tive man  is  always  a  religion  of  fear.  Thus 
darkness  came  to  be  associated  in  our  minds 
with  discomfort  and  danger,  and  the  thought 
still  persists,  as  is  shown  in  the  instinctive  fear 
which  many  children  have  for  a  dark  room. 
Therefore,  when  the  artist  wishes  to  convey  an 
impression  of  sorrow,  melancholy  or  depression, 
a  low  key  is  selected,  and  when  the  purpose  is 
to  suggest  light  or  brightness  or  cheerfulness  a 
high  key  is  preferred,  as  is  evidenced  in  the  best 
portraits  of  children,  which  rarely  have  any 
large  area  of  dark,  and  in  sunny  landscapes, 
which  are  of  similar  character.  In  fact,  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  convey  a  real  suggestion 
of  sunlight  unless  a  relatively  high  key  is  em- 
ployed; the  attempt  to  suggest  sunlight  by 
strong  contrast  is  almost  inevitably  foredoomed 
to  failure.  The  writer,  as  has  been  said,  does 
not  feel  that  the  medium  key  is  of  much  gen- 
eral value;  it  has  neither  the  sparkle  and  bril- 

84 


VALUES 

liance  of  the  high  nor  the  depth  and  richness  of 
the  low,  though  it  has  been  much  used  by  pho- 
tographers who  wished  to  avoid  the  banal  full- 
scale  effects  characteristic  of  the  earlier  days 
of  the  art,  and  to  the  researches  of  such  men 
is  largely  due  the  knowledge  we  now  have  of 
the  possibilities  of  the  camera  in  pictorial  ex- 
pression. The  medium  key,  however,  is  non- 
committal, and  is  used  chiefly  by  those  who  fear 
to  trust  themselves  in  either  a  stronger  or  a 
more  delicate  expression.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  full  scale,  using  the  entire  palette,  is  the 
strongest  and  most  vigorous  of  all,  and  de- 
mands that  the  artist  employing  it  shall  be  a 
master  of  his  medium.  It  is  the  expression  par 
excellence  of  strength  and  vigor ;  but  as  the  high 
key,  used  unskilfully,  deteriorates  into  weak- 
ness and  the  low  key  into  muddiness,  so  does  the 
full  scale,  unless  used  with  comprehension,  run 
into  harshness,  this  being  true  not  only  artisti- 
cally but  also  technically,  for  it  demands  preci- 
sion of  exposure  and  development  and  an  exact 
adaptation  of  both  to  the  printing  medium. 

Some  subjects  actually  demand  a  truthful 
rendering,  but  they  are  the  ones  whose  beauty 

85 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

is  inherent,  and,  though  they  may  be  very 
lovely,  it  is  rare  that  such  a  one  has  great  psy- 
chic value.  An  instance  is  in  the  case  of  sunlit 
snow,  for  if  the  values  be  in  the  slightest  degree 
off  or  if  the  print  be  the  least  bit  too  dark  or 
too  light,  the  exquisite  jewel-like  beauty  of  the 
subject  disappears  at  once.  The  writer  was  at 
one  time  much  interested  in  subjects  of  this 
character  and  attained  some  skill  in  the  render- 
ing of  them,  but  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
sunlit  snow  is  not  indicated  when  the  desire  of 
the  artist  is  to  arouse  an  emotion;  it  may  be 
exceedingly  beautiful  and  may  have  great 
aesthetic  merit,  but  the  very  fact  that  it  requires 
truth  of  appearance  necessarily  precludes 
suggestion  and  places  such  representations  defi- 
nitely in  the  realm  of  craftsmanship.  Neverthe- 
less, the  writer  would  strongly  recommend  that 
every  student  of  photography  make  an  especial 
study  of  snow  under  sunlight ;  if  he  can  make  it 
look  right — like  what  it  is — he  may  fairly 
claim  to  be  a  skilled  craftsman,  and  he  will  be 
able  to  render  other  things  equally  well,  for  this 
is  probably  the  most  difficult  problem  of  all. 
It  cannot  be  said  that  any  one  part  of  photo- 

86 


VALUES  f 

graphic  expression  is  more  important  than  an- 
other; composition  is  fundamental,  the  values 
must  be  right,  and  unless  the  mechanical  part 
of  the  technic  is  familiar  to  the  worker  he  can- 
not put  into  the  print  what  he  feels.  Of  course, 
an  idea  to  express  is  imperative,  but  this  cannot 
be  taught — it  must  preexist  in  the  worker's 
mind;  and  next  in  the  sequence  of  the  work 
comes  the  arrangement  of  the  pattern,  the  con- 
sideration of  the  key  and  the  scale  of  the  picture 
following.  However,  composition  can  be 
taught ;  study  under  a  good  master  will  famil- 
iarize the  student  with  the  accomplishments  of 
the  great  artists  and  will  result  in  his  learning 
sound,  though  not  inspired,  arrangement.  The 
study  and  appreciation  of  values,  however,  lies 
in  the  student's  own  hands.  No  instructor  can 
instill  this  sense  of  the  fitness  of  the  relation  pf 
light  and  shade,  the  utmost  possible  being  for 
the  teacher  to  tell  the  pupil  what  is  generally 
considered  good  or  bad,  and  this  may  not  agree 
with  the  individual's  ideals  and  purposes;  in 
fact,  if  the  student  has  any  originality  and  force 
it  probably  will  not,  for  one  of  the  character- 
istics of  the  original  worker  is  a  disinclination  to 

87 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

accept  the  popular  judgment.  The  best  guide 
to  the  study  of  light  and  shade  and  of  values 
will  be  found  in  the  works  of  the  great  masters, 
black  and  white  being  better  for  this  purpose 
than  color,  not  merely  because  they  approach 
nearer  to  the  photographic  expression  but 
chiefly  because  the  sensuous  element  is  removed 
and  only  the  intellectual  remains. 

It  is  also  necessary  to  study  values  at  first 
hand,  and  this  means  forming  the  habit  of  ob- 
servation. Few  persons  really  observe,  a  vague 
general  impression,  being  the  most  that  the 
average  individual  gathers  of  a  scene ;  and  there 
is  but  one  way  to  acquire  this  most  imperative 
habit — namely,  to  observe.  A  great  painter 
once  told  the  writer  that  practice  had  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  look  at  any  landscape  for 
twenty  minutes  and  go  home  and  paint  it  cor- 
rectly from  memory,  entirely  without  notes  of 
any  kind — though  it  should  be  added  that  he 
never  did  paint  it  exactly  as  he  saw  it,  but  al- 
ways introduced  modifications  to  make  the  re- 
sult more  impressive.  If  anyone  will  make  a 
definite  effort  to  look  carefully  at  any  scene, 
memorizing  the  features  of  it  as  fully  as  pos- 


VALUES 

sible,  and  endeavoring  to  recall  them  later,  he 
will  probably  be  surprised  at  the  amount  he 
can  remember.  Constant  practice  in  such  mem- 
orizing will  train  the  memory  to  a  very  high 
pitch,  and  will  at  the  same  time  train  the  ob- 
servation. This  practice  should  not  be  confined 
to  any  particular  time  or  place,  but  should  be 
carried  on  at  all  times,  when  walking  or  riding, 
at  home,  on  trains,  on  the  street,  in  fact,  any- 
where at  all.  The  student  will  soon  reach  such 
a  point  that  a  glance  will  suffice  to  impress  on 
his  memory  the  important  facts  concerning 
either  a  face  or  a  locality,  and,  in  addition  to 
acquiring  a  retentive  memory  and  a  facile 
power  of  observation,  he  will  be  storing  up  a 
collection  of  impressions  with  which  to  compare 
other  impressions  that  he  may  afterward  en- 
counter, such  a  collection  being  of  inestimable 
value.  In  addition  to  developing  his  mental 
powers  he  will  also  be  benefitted  by  the  sight 
of  many  interesting  things  which,  but  for  his 
growth  in  observation,  would  have  passed  un- 
noticed, and  the  effect  of  this  will  be  to  enrich 
his  appreciation,  to  broaden  his  mental  horizon, 
and  to  make  the  world  more  pleasant  for  him. 

89 


IV 
SUGGESTION  AND  MYSTERY 

SUGGESTION  and  mystery,  though  not  iden- 
tical, are  closely  akin,  and  in  practice  it  is  often 
impossible  to  say  where  one  merges  into  the 
other,  the  exact  point  of  contact  being  some- 
what indefinite.  Broadly  speaking,  however,  we 
may  say  that  mystery  consists  in  affording  an 
opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  the  imagination, 
whereas  suggestion  involves  stimulating  the 
imagination  by  direct  or  indirect  means.  Sug- 
gestion, if  successful,  is  always  to  be  preferred 
to  delineation,  simply  because  the  spectator, 
grasping  the  artist's  unexpressed  idea,  experi- 
ences a  glow  of  self-satisfaction,  precisely  as 
though  he  had  mastered  a  difficult  chess  prob- 
lem, and  is  more  impressed  than  if  the  idea  had 
been  fully  put  down  for  him  to  grasp  without 
effort.  One  remembers  longer  the  chess  prob- 
lems one  solves  than  those  of  which  the  answer 
has  been  given. 

Suggestion  may  be  of  many  kinds,  from  the 

90 


SUGGESTION  AND  MYSTERY 

simple  use  of  a  given  type  of  line  to  the  more 
abstract  sort  in  which  the  fundamental  animat- 
ing idea  of  the  picture  is  suggested  and  not 
expressed,  and  may  be  used  to  almost  any  ex- 
tent, these  two  forms  being  exemplified  in  The 
Woods  of  Colonos  (page  66)  and  Finis  (page 
128) .  The  first  suggests,  by  the  majesty  of  the 
vertical  line,  the  strength  and  grandeur  of  the 
great  dramatist  whose  birthplace  Colonos  was ; 
the  second  suggests — to  the  author,  at  least— 
the  sublime  terror  of 

That  Day  of  Wrath,  that  dreadful  Day 
When  Heaven  and  Earth  shall  pass  away. 

And  here,  by  the  way,  is  an  interesting  illus- 
tration of  the  power  of  the  imagination.  To 
anyone  with  even  the  most  elementary  knowl- 
edge of  evolutionary  processes,  the  idea  of  a 
cataclysmal  Day  of  Judgment  is  one  which  the 
reason  simply  refuses  to  accept;  it  is  rejected 
as  absolutely  unthinkable.  Yet  we  are  able, 
by  an  effort  of  the  imagination,  so  to  project 
our  appreciation  into  the  minds  of  those  to 
whom  such  a  Day  was  a  certain  fact  as  to  re- 
ceive an  actual  stimulus  from  this  picture, 

91 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

though  not,  of  course,  so  strong  a  one  as  would 
be  received  were  the  reason  not  operating  to 
inhibit,  in  part,  the  imagination.  This  power 
of  projection  inheres  in  nearly  everyone;  did  it 
not,  suggestion  would  be  impossible. 

Two  other  examples  of  different  forms  of 
suggestion  may  also  be  given,  and  the  first  is 
as  follows :  In  the  city  of  Moscow  there  stands 
a  statue  representing  a  man  dragging  a  woman 
and  child  from  the  water,  and  the  story  is  this : 
Czar  Peter  the  Great  had  been  ill  of  a  fever, 
and  while  convalescent  walked  out  one  day, 
against  the  advice  of  his  physicians.  His  steps 
led  to  the  river,  and  there  he  saw  a  peasant 
woman  and  her  child  struggling  in  the  water, 
for  it  was  winter  and  the  ice  had  given  way 
as  they  attempted  to  cross.  Unhesitatingly 
the  great  czar  plunged  in,  and  after  a  hard 
fight  brought  the  two  safe  to  shore,  but  the 
shock  caused  a  recurrence  of  the  fever,  and  he 
died.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  anyone  could 
look  at  this  statue  and  know  the  story  without 
being  thrilled  and  stimulated  by  the  thought  of 
this  self-sacrifice,  and  it  is  within  the  bounds  of 
possibility  that  the  indirect  effect  of  the  czar's 

92 


EVENING  BREEZES 
BY  J.  S.  FOWLER 
Brom  a  Bromide  Enlargemei 


SUGGESTION  AND  MYSTERY 

death  may  be  as  great  as  the  direct  effect  of 
his  life  and  work. 

The  other  example  is  from  the  writer's  own 
experience.  Several  years  ago  he  was  spend- 
ing some  time  on  the  Maine  coast,  and  one  day, 
with  three  or  four  friends,  went  for  a  walk 
through  a  pine  wood,  where  the  quiet  air,  the 
tall,  straight  tree-trunks,  the  soft  carpet  of 
needles,  and  the  hush  of  the  woods  all  combined 
to  make  a  most  impressive  setting.  After  walk- 
ing a  mile  or  so  one  of  the  party  left  to  return, 
and  with  ten  steps  was  out  of  sight  along  the 
winding  path,  but  as  she  went  she  played  an 
ocarina,  and  the  tune  she  played  was  "  Ye 
Banks  and  Braes  o'  Bonnie  Doon."  The  soft 
and  mellow  notes  of  the  instrument  fitted  per- 
fectly the  plaintive  little  Scotch  air,  and  as  the 
music  died  away  in  the  distance  none  of  the 
party  cared  to  speak,  for  it  was  as  though  Pan 
were  piping  in  the  woods !  And  for  a  few  min- 
utes we  almost  expected  to  see  elfin  faces  peep- 
ing at  us  from  the  bushes,  and  to  hear  the 
laughter  of  the  gnomes  and  sprites  and  pixies 
of  our  childhood  fairy  tales. 

Here,  then,  are  two  instances  of  suggestion, 

93 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

the  one  concrete,  vigorous  and  virile,  the  other 
delicate  and  elusive  as  the  perfume  of  a  flower, 
but  none  the  less  potent  to  stimulate  the  imagi- 
nation and  to  arouse  memories.  A  writer  has 
said  that  the  most  an  artist  can  do  is  to  make 
one  think,  all  at  once,  of  all  the  finest  things  he 
has  seen  and  heard  and  read,  but  this  does  not 
take  into  account  the  imagination,  and  there 
are,  further,  racial  memories,  come  down  to  us 
from  thousands  of  years: 

So  to  the  land  our  hearts  we  give 

Till  the  sure  magic  strike, 
And  memory,  use,  and  love  make  live 

Us  and  our  fields  alike — 
That  deeper  than  our  speech  or  thought, 

Beyond  our  reason's  sway, 
Clay  of  the  pit  whence  we  were  wrought 

Yearns  to  its  fellow-clay. 

For  many  thousand  years  our  ancestors  lived 
in  caves  riven  in  the  hills  by  nature's  forces,  or 
sheltered  themselves  from  storms  under  a 
kindly  cliff;  and  to  these  people  the  hours  of 
darkness  were  hours  of  terror,  helpless  as  they 
were  against  the  beasts. of  prey  and  even  more 

94 


SUGGESTION  AND  MYSTERY. 

helpless  against  the  powers  of  evil  conjured  up 
by  their  own  imaginations.  The  impressions 
so  gained  have  never  left  us,  and  to  this  day 
a  child  or  an  imaginative  person  may  suffer 
agony  in  the  dark,  where  every  vaguely  seen 
spot  a  trifle  lighter  than  the  surrounding  dark- 
ness is  a  thing  of  fear,  and  familiar  outlines  are 
transformed  into  unknown — and  therefore 
doubly  terrible — dangers,  like  the  Gnarled 
Monster  in  "  Croquemitaine,"  which,  seen 
closely,  was  but  the  outflung  branch  of  an  old 
oak  tree.  Let  us  return  for  the  moment  to  the 
row  of  trees  we  spoke  of  before,  but  this  time  it 
is  before  dawn,  and  we  are  looking  toward  the 
east.  The  trees  are  barely  seen  in  outline 
against  the  deep  blue  sky,  and  the  field  be- 
tween us  and  them  shows  only  as  a  vague  space 
slightly  lighter  in  value  than  the  black  mass  of 
the  trees.  Here  is  mystery,  for  the  shadows  of 
the  trees  might  conceal  anything,  either  earthly 
or  supernatural,  and  it  depends  on  our  imagi- 
nations to  people  the  darkness  with  whatever 
we  choose.  Gradually  the  sky  grows  lighter, 
and  as  the  light  increases  vague  outlines  begin 
to  appear,  which  we  may  take  to  be  cattle,  or 

95 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

men,  or  houses,  for  the  shapes  are  distorted  and 
nothing  is  clearly  seen.  As  the  light  grows  still 
stronger  we  find  that  what  we  took  for  men 
were  really  fence-posts,  the  cattle  we  thought 
we  saw  were  in  fact  clumps  of  weeds,  and  sug- 
gestion is  lost  in  the  clear  light  of  day.  This 
gives  us  a  hint  of  where  mystery  and  suggestion 
lie;  in  vague  outlines,  in  dark  shadows,  and  in 
breadth  of  drawing  rather  than  in  detailed 
vision.  But  there  is  a  greater  and  higher  form 
of  mystery  than  this.  The  world  we  live  in  is 
one  vast  mystery,  and  superhuman  forces  are 
seen  in  the  storm,  in  sunlight,  in  the  white  blan- 
ket of  snow  that  covers  the  earth,  in  the  spring- 
ing of  buds  on  plant  and  tree,  but  more  than 
all  else  in  the  child  lying  in  its  mother's  arms. 
The  man  who  can  see  and  feel  this  great  mys- 
tery of  life — and  can  also  make  others  see  it — 
he  is  the  great  artist. 

It  is  impossible  to  tell  fully  how  mystery 
may  be  secured,  but  two  hints  may  be  given, 
one  dealing  with  darkness,  the  other  with  light. 
Suppose  the  picture  is  of  a  dark  interior,  with 
the  principal  object  alone  clearly  lighted.  Then 
if  the  chief  object  is  but  vaguely  outlined,  the 

96 


SUGGESTION  AND  MYSTERY 

edges  being  diffused,  and  the  rest  of  the  pic- 
ture— except  for  what  essential  details  may  be 
present — is  kept  dark,  with  but  a  trifle  of 
gradation  in  the  shadows,  mystery  will  be  at- 
tained. However,  mystery  inheres  in  light  as 
well  as  in  darkness,  and  we  will  suppose  that 
the  picture  we  have  In  mind  includes  a  white 
house  in  sunshine.  By  using  a  soft  focus  lens 
(taking  care  not  to  overdo  the  diffusion) ,  keep- 
ing the  negative  soft,  and  printing  in  a  high 
key,  it  will  be  possible,  if  the  work  is  well  done, 
to  suggest  something  of  the  shimmering  mys- 
tery of  sunlight. 

Returning  to  the  matter  of  suggestion,  as 
the  more  concrete  and  more  easily  explained, 
we  may  say,  generally,  that  any  incomplete  or 
unexplained  motion  is  suggestive,  for  the  spec- 
tator naturally  looks  to  see  where  the  motion 
has  its  source  and  whither  it  tends;  the  mind 
always  desires  an  explanation,  and  if  denied 
it  will  fabricate  one  for  itself.  Thus,  the  sight 
of  an  object  in  motion  through  the  air  causes 
the  person  seeing  it  to  look  to  see  whence  it 
was  thrown,  and  in  Evening  Breezes  (page  90 ) 
the  apparent  blowing  of  the  tree  suggests  the 

7  97 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

presence  of  wind,  an  idea  which  is  reinforced 
by  the  position  of  the  clouds  and  by  the  angle 
of  the  horizon  line. 

One  of  the  strongest  factors  in  suggestion  is 
what  we  may  call  "  the  illusion  of  reality,"  for 
if  we  can  persuade  the  spectator  to  imagine  that 
he  is  looking  at  the  actual  objects  themselves 
rather  than  at  a  pictorial  representation  of  them 
he  will  be  more  apt  to  receive  and  act  upon  any 
suggestion  which  we  may  wish  to  convey  than 
when  it  is  entirely  obvious  that  the  thing  before 
him  is  merely  a  symbolical  presentation  of  nat- 
ural objects.  In  endeavoring  to  convey  an 
illusion  of  reality  the  first  effort  must  be  to 
secure  a  correct  relationship  of  values,  for  if 
this  is  done  the  mind  is  strongly  stimulated, 
even  at  times  going  so  far  as  to  receive  an 
impression  of  color,  although  no  color  is  pres- 
ent in  the  picture. 

Next  in  importance  comes  the  matter  of 
definition,  or  drawing,  and  the  photographer 
must  be  on  his  guard  against  excessive  sharp- 
ness as  well  as  against  excessive  diffusion;  the 
aim  should  be  to  present  as  nearly  as  may  be  the 
quality  of  definition  seen  by  the  eye,  erring,  if 

98 


SUGGESTION  AND  MYSTERY 

at  all,  in  favor  of  slightly  too  much  softness 
rather  than  in  the  other  direction,  for  excessive 
diffusion  is  not  so  unpleasant  and  repellant  to 
the  eye  as  excessive  sharpness. 

The  third  factor,  which  some  think  the  most 
important  of  all,  has  to  do  with  the  size  of  the 
print.  We  are  accustomed  to  think  of  natural 
objects — men,  houses,  trees — as  large  in  com- 
parison with  ourselves,  even  though  they  may 
appear  small  to  the  eye  by  reason  of  perspec- 
tive ;  the  mind  translates  the  record  of  the  eye 
into  its  own  terms.  Further,  in  looking  at 
natural  objects  we  are  accustomed  to  move  the 
eye,  and  we  have  come  to  associate  this  motion 
with  the  idea  of  magnitude.  So  when  we  see 
a  print  4X5  or  even  8X10  inches,  with  men 
and  houses  reduced  to  an  inch  or  so  in  height, 
and  the  whole  print  so  small  that  we  can  grasp 
the  entire  picture  space  without  moving  the 
eye,  we  realize  at  once,  without  conscious  effort, 
that  we  are  dealing  with  a  collection  of  symbols, 
and  there  is  no  illusion  of  reality.  If,  however, 
we  make  the  print  large — 16X20  or  20X24— 
the  eye  is  called  upon  to  move  from  point  to 
point  of  the  picture  space  in  order  to  take  in 

99 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

the  whole  composition,  and  the  mind  is  stimu- 
lated by  the  'action  of  the  muscles  controlling 
the  eye.  There  is  also  an  element  of  suggestion 
tending  to  arouse  the  mind  and  to  produce  an 
illusion  of  reality  in  the  fact  that  the  print  itself 
is  larger  than  we  are  accustomed  to  see  a  photo- 
graph, and  these  two  factors,  operating  to- 
gether, are  potent  in  helping  the  spectator  to 
forget  his  surroundings  and  lose  himself  in  the 
picture.  Therefore,  it  is  desirable  to  have  the 
values  correct  within  themselves  except  for 
such  falsification  as  may  be  pictorially  desir- 
able, to  have  some  diffusion  of  outline,  and  to 
make  the  print  as  large  as  can  well  be  done. 
Of  course,  from  the  aesthetic  standpoint,  size 
has  nothing  to  do  with  merit ;  pattern  and  print 
quality  may  be  as  satisfactory  in  a  small  print 
as  in  a  large  one — in  fact,  they  are  more  likely 
to  be  so,  for  enlargement  shows  up  defects  in  a 
most  astonishing  manner.  So  that  to  the 
aesthete  and  the  virtuoso  size  is  not  a  thing  to  be 
desired,  but  in  respect  of  pictorial  effect  the 
large  print  is  by  far  the  more  impressive. 


100 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

LANDSCAPE  photography,  like  the  Gaul  of 
Caesar's  time,  is  divided  into  three  parts : 

( 1 )  Record  Work.  In  this  work  the  photog- 
rapher, pleased  with  the  beauty  of  some  delight- 
ful scene,  and  wishing  to  perpetuate  it,  makes 
a  photograph — it  cannot  be  called  a  picture- 
to  keep  alive  the  memory  of  his  pleasure. 
Workers  of  this  class  are  generally  those  who 
go  out  walking  with  a  camera,  and  bring  home 
half  a  dozen  or  a  dozen  exposed  plates,  which 
are  developed  and  printed,  the  prints  being 
then  placed  in  a  desk  drawer  and  being  no  more 
seen  of  men.  These  photographers  may  gen- 
erally be  recognized  by  their  paraphrase  of  the 
famous  remark  attributed  to  the  English:  "  It's 
a  fine  day;  let's  go  out  and  take  a  picture." 

(2)  Interpretive  Work.  Here  the  pho- 
tographer sees  and  notes  the  distinctive  char- 
acter of  a  landscape,  studies  it  under  different 

effects  of  atmosphere  and  light,  and  at  diff er- 

101 


ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

ent  times  of  year,  and,  becoming  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  it,  photographs  it  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  express  the  thing  that  makes  it 
precisely  what  it  is,  and  shows  the  character 
exactly  as  the  good  portrait  worker  shows  the 
soul  of  his  sitter.  A  photograph  of  this  kind, 
taken  in  the  Berkshires,  would  never  be  mis- 
taken for  one  taken  in  the  Cumberlands  or  the 
Rockies,  and  a  person  seeing  a  picture  from  a 
country  with  which  he  is  familiar  will  at  once 
recognize  it,  even  though  he  may  never  have 
seen  the  particular  spot  portrayed.  It  will  be 
realized  that  this  represents  an  advance  on  the 
first  kind  of  work,  for  it  is  quite  possible  to 
stimulate  memories  and  associations,  and 
through  them  an  emotion,  by  true  interpreta- 
tion. The  interpretive  worker  is  quite  as  apt 
to  go  out  without  his  camera  as  with  it,  for  it 
is  his  custom  to  study  the  country  thoroughly 
and  for  a  prolonged  period  (often  weeks  or 
months)  before  attempting  any  serious  work, 
and  it  is  no  unusual  thing  for  him  to  come  back 
from  an  expedition  with  his  outfit,  not  having 
exposed  a  plate.  He  knows,  when  starting  out, 
just  where  he  is  going  and  from  what  angle 

102 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

he  is  going  to  photograph  the  scene  he  has  in 
mind,  and  if  the  conditions  are  not  just  right 
when  he  reaches  the  intended  spot  he  does  not 
make  an  exposure.  As  an  illustration,  it  may 
be  said  that  Mist  in  the  V alley  (page  40)  is  the 
result  of  three  years'  study  of  the  locality  and 
three  more  years'  consideration  of  the  negative. 
The  writer  has  in  mind  a  group  of  trees  which 
he  has  had  under  consideration  for  two  years, 
and  of  which  he  hopes  to  get  a  successful  pho- 
tograph in  about  six  months  from  the  time  of 
writing,  for  conditions  then  will  be  right. 

(3)  Inspirational  Work.  In  work  of  this 
sort  the  photographer  is  not  concerned  with  any 
particular  section  of  the  country.  He  starts 
out  with  a  definite  purpose  in  view,  and  his  aim 
is  to  find  a  landscape  which  will  conform  to  his 
idea  and  help  him  to  express  the  emotion  he  has 
in  mind.  The  result,  when  successful,  is  un- 
questionably a  picture,  but  it  has  no  definite 
landscape  character;  it  does  not  express  any 
special  place  except  insofar  as  the  type  of 
country  may  be  found  in  some  definite  section 
of  the  world.  It  will  be  understood  that  inspi- 
rational work  is  at  once  the  highest  and  the 

103 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

most  difficult  class  of  landscape  photography; 
and  it  may  be  noted  that  the  worker  in  this 
style  is  more  apt  to  modify  his  plates  and  prints 
by  hand  than  either  of  the  others — partly  be- 
cause it  is  no  easy  matter  to  find  just  the  sort 
of  landscape  required,  and  partly  because  the 
stimulating  of  an  emotion  is  more  likely  to  de- 
mand a  departure  from  actual  fact  than  is  the 
case  with  either  record  or  interpretive  work. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  type  of  photographer  who 
indulges  more  in  manipulation  than  any  of 
those  mentioned,  but  it  is  perhaps  hardly  fair 
to  class  him  as  a  photographer  at  all.  It  is  his 
custom  to  wander  around  with  a  camera  until 
he  finds  some  arrangement  which  conforms  to 
sound  composition  and  then  to  photograph  it, 
afterward  manipulating  either  plate  or  print 
or  both  until  some  thought  or  emotion  is  sug- 
gested, when  a  title  is  devised  and  the  print  is 
sent  out  to  exhibitions  as  an  expression  of  a 
mood.  Many  of  the  results  so  produced  are 
very  fine — also,  many  are  not — but  work  of  this 
type  should  properly  be  discussed  under  the 
heading  of  draughtsmanship  rather  than  in  a 
book  devoted  to  photography,  so  it  will  not 

104 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

be  considered  further  here,  nor  will  the  first 
class,  since  record  work  is  a  phase  through 
which  every  photographer  passes,  which  is 
outgrown  by  every  worker  of  any  ability  and 
true  artistic  impulse.  There  would  be  no 
more  point  in  endeavoring  to  stimulate  a 
worker  to  pass  from  record  to  interpretive 
photography  than  there  would  be  in  trying  to 
stimulate  a  child  to  walk  rather  than  to  creep, 
for,  given  the  power,  it  is  something  that  he 
cannot  help  doing;  if  the  power  exists,  so  also 
does  the  desire.  The  vast  majority  of  the  pho- 
tographs shown  in  our  exhibitions,  however, 
belong  within  the  first  classification,  due  to  the 
tendency  already  mentioned  to  accept  as  artis- 
tically satisfying  any  result  which  is  aestheti- 
cially  pleasing;  did  the  judges  of  such  exhibi- 
tions insist  that  a  photograph,  to  be  worthy  of 
acceptance,  must  show  an  idea,  the  walls  of 
our  exhibition  rooms  would  present  large  areas 
of  empty  spaces,  with  a  few  frames  to  be  seen 
here  and  there.  It  is  true  that  most  of  these 
photographs  have  their  origin  in  an  enthusiasm 
for  effects  of  atmosphere  and  light,  but  this 
does  not  make  them  less  truly  record  work  than 

105 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

the  ones  in  which  the  interest  lies  merely  in  topo- 
graphical features. 

Among  the  American  workers  with  land- 
scape whose  prints  the  author  knows,  W.  E. 
Macnaughtan,  Annie  Brigman,  and  Gertrude 
Kasebier  are  most  completely  and  fully  repre- 
sentative of  the  second  and  third  classes  of  pho- 
tographer. The  work  of  Mr.  Macnaughtan 
varies  between  the  interpretive  and  the  inspi- 
rational, and  that  of  Mrs.  Kasebier  and  Mrs. 
Brigman — who,  however,  frequently  if  not  in- 
variably use  figures  to  assist  the  expression  of 
their  ideas — is  almost  purely  inspirational, 
showing  in  each  instance  a  rare  quality  of 
imagination. 

So  our  discussion  will  be  confined  to  inter- 
pretive and  inspirational  work ;  and  since  there 
is  no  hard  and  fast  line  between  the  two,  and 
also  since  the  difference  which  exists  is  inside 
the  worker  and  can  neither  be  taught  nor  re- 
pressed (though  bad  education  may  retard  its 
expression)  our  consideration  will  cover  both 
classes  at  the  same  time,  for  it  will  necessarily 
be  restricted  largely  to  the  objective  phase  of 
photography. 

106 


A  COUNTRY  ROAD 

From  a  Bromide  Enlargement 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

The  emotions  which  may  he  expressed  or 
stimulated  by  means  of  landscape  photography 
include  practically  all  those  which  lie  within  the 
province  of  graphic  art,  but  most  easily  stim- 
ulated as  those  of  a  quiet  character,  such  as 
calm,  peace,  sadness,  wonder,  reverence,  and 
the  like,  though,  as  has  been  said,  reverence  is 
probably  too  great  for  the  photographer,  and, 
indeed,  is  generally  beyond  the  grasp  of  the 
painter  as  well.  Joy,  whether  the  simple  joy 
of  living  or  rejoicing  over  some  definite  condi- 
tion, such  as  warmth  or  light,  is  also  easily  at- 
tained, but  is  not  so  deep  an  emotion.  The 
stronger  ones  are  the  quieter,  a  violent  emotion, 
such  as  extreme  joy  or  horror,  though  more 
impressive  at  the  time,  being  less  apt  to  leave 
a  deep  impression  on  the  mind,  in  which  respect 
the  pictorial  representation  differs  from  the  ac- 
tual experience.  Generally  speaking,  the 
quieter  emotions  are  the  pleasanter  to  live  with, 
and  unless  a  picture  is  designed  to  produce  an 
immediate  and  powerful  effect,  as  in  the  case  of 
Nast's  and  Raemakers's  cartoons,  it  is  better  to 
avoid  violent  expression,  though  this  must  not 
be  understood  as  a  depreciation  of  the  artists 

107 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

named,  each  of  them  having  exerted  a  tremen- 
dous influence  for  good  on  the  thought  of  his 
fellow-men.  The  mood  or  emotion  aspired  to 
will,  of  course,  depend  on  the  artist's  tempera- 
ment, some  workers  finding  their  highest  ex- 
pression in  sadness  or  pathos,  whereas  others 
shun  anything  approaching  melancholy  and  de- 
vote themselves  to  brighter,  happier  aspects  of 
nature,  and  it  is  generally  assumed  that  the 
former  are  more  likely  to  produce  a  lasting 
work.  This  may  be  true,  and,  in  fact,  it  prob- 
ably is — it  has  been  said  that  a  theatre  audience 
would  rather  cry  than  laugh — but  at  the  same 
time,  the  author  would  point  out  that  anything 
which  exerts  an  unfavorable  psychic  suggestion 
exercises  a  depressing  influence  on  the  specta- 
tor, thus  lowering  his  vitality,  whereas  a  favor- 
able suggestion  raises  the  vitality  markedly, 
rendering  the  individual  influenced  more  able 
to  accomplish  his  work.  Still,  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  there  is  a  vast  difference  between 
tragedy  and  pathos,  and  the  great  dramas  of 
Shakespeare  do  not  have  the  same  depressing 
effect  as  the  mournful  and  morbid  stories  of 
Poe,  despite  the  fact  that  both  show  the  darker 

108 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

side  of  human  nature.  The  conclusion  seems 
to  be  that  if  an  artist  is  great  enough  in  his  in- 
sight into  nature  and  in  his  power  of  expression, 
he  can  choose  his  subjects  where  he  will;  but  the 
lesser  man  will  do  well  to  adhere  to  a  more 
subtle  aspect  in  selecting  his  material. 

The  artist,  then,  will  in  general  make  an 
effort  to  choose  and  to  reproduce  such  effects 
of  landscape  as  are  productive  of  the  character 
of  emotion  indicated ;  and,  though  no  rules  can 
be  given  which  will  make  such  expression  cer- 
tain, nevertheless  a  few  hints  may  be  afforded, 
dealing  with  principles  which  are  fundamental 
in  all  graphic  art. 

Joy,  pleasure,  happiness  and  similar  emo- 
tions, are  expressed  in  terms  of  light  and  ex- 
pansion. It  has  already  been  explained  that 
our  associations  cause  us  to  regard  darkness  as 
depressing,  and  the  reverse  is  equally  true- 
that  light  is  associated  with  happiness.  The 
sun  is  the  giver  not  only  of  light  but  also  of 
warmth,  of  comfort,  and,  through  its  action  on 
plant  life,  of  food.  This  fact  has  so  impressed 
itself  on  the  minds  of  men  that  some  earlier 
races  went  so  far  as  to  worship  the  sun  itself, 

109 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

and  the  widespread  influence  of  this  idea  is  seen 
in  the  fact  that  it  obtained  among  races  so  far 
separated  geographically  as  the  Parsees  and 
the  Aztecs  (though,  to  be  sure,  some  ethnolo- 
gists claim  that  the  Aztecs  originated  in  Asia) . 
So  the  effect  of  light  on  our  minds  must  not 
be  ignored,  and  it  will  be  found  that  in  expres- 
sing joy  a  high  key  is  most  effective,  especially 
if  combined  with  a  feeling  of  direct  sunlight. 

Further,  -a  person  under  the  influence  of  pain 
or  sorrow  or  distress  unconsciously  expresses 
his  feelings  in  muscular  contractions  or  a  bowed 
and  drooping  attitude,  a  fact  which  will  be  real- 
ized by  anyone  who  has  ever  experienced  the 
ministrations  of  a  dentist.  On  the  other  hand, 
health,  comfort  and  happiness  are  expressed 
through  vigorous,  expansive  and  buoyant  mo- 
tions and  attitudes,  and  rounded  forms  in  art 
naturally  carry  this  suggestion.  As  a  conse- 
quence, the  artist  who  aims  at  stimulating  the 
more  joyous  emotions  will  make  use  of  domed 
hills,  full-foliaged  trees  such  as  the  maple  and 
the  oak,  and  cumulus  clouds,  in  combination 
with  sunlight,  this  relationship  at  once  making 

it  clear  that  pictures  of  the  character  indicated 

no 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

are  best  made  in  late  spring,  summer  or  early 
autumn,  whereas  pictures  meant  to  convey  a 
feeling  of  sadness  will  be  secured  in  late  au- 
tumn, winter,  or  early  spring,  when  the  trees 
are  bare  of  leaves  and  the  cloud  forms  tend  less 
to  the  round  and  more  to  the  flat;  or,  if  such  pic- 
tures are  to  be  made  in  summer,  trees  of  a 
pointed  type  will  be  found  most  useful,  cedars, 
cypresses,  hemlocks,  and.  poplars  furnishing 
valuable  aid.  A  potent  factor  is  found  in  the 
association  of  spring  and  summer  with  growth 
and  development,  and  of  autumn  and  winter 
with  death  and  decay,  for  many  years  of  false 
training  have  taught  us  to  regard  death  as  an 
abnormal  and  terrible  thing  instead  of — as  it 
actually  is — a  perfectly  normal  function  of  life, 
no  more  to  be  deplored  (when  it  comes  in  the 
natural  course  of  events )  than  birth  itself.  The 
poet  sings: 

The  melancholy  days  are  come,  the  saddest  of  the 

year, 
Of  wailing  winds   and   naked   woods   and  meadows 

brown  and  sere, 

and  there  are  few  in  whose  minds  this  sentiment 

does  not  find  a  response,  even  though  we  may 

ill 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

know  that  the  death  of  the  flowers  is  but  the 
precursor  of  a  more  glorious  rebirth. 

A  fact  which  should  be  constantly  in  the 
mind  of  a  photographer  who  aims  at  the  stimu- 
lation of  the  larger  emotions  is  that  a  low  hori- 
zon is  of  great  value — is,  in  fact,  all  but 
imperative — in  suggesting  space.  If  the  land- 
scape occupies  but  the  lower  quarter  or  third  of 
the  picture  area,  the  remainder  being  given  over 
to  the  sky,  a  vast  expanse  of  country  is  at  once 
suggested,  but  the  effect  of  a  foreground  pic- 
ture, with  the  horizon  above  the  middle  of  the 
print,  is  necessarily  constricted — "  cribbed,  cab- 
ined and  confined."  This  is  not  meant  to  decry 
foreground  pictures,  but  merely  to  point  out 
that  a  high  horizon  cannot  convey  a  feeling  of 
large  and  open  country,  and  that  the  larger 
emotions  rarely  exist  within  a  small  area.  Com- 
parison of  A  Hillside  Pasture  (page  54)  with 
A  Mountain  Meadow  (page  216)  and  Meissen 
(page  178)  will  make  clear  the  greater  sense 
of  space  resulting  from  a  low  horizon. 

Calm  and  peace  are  neither  joy  nor  sadness, 
but  partake  somewhat  of  both  emotions,  and 
the  expression  of  these  sentiments  is  found  at 

112 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

• 

its  best  in  the  afternoon  and  evening  hours  of 
spring,  summer  and  early  autumn,  when  the 
foliage  is  still  on  the  trees,  but  the  light  is  be- 
ginning to  fail,  and  the  association  here  is  that 
connected  with  the  time  of  rest  from  labor.  The 
long  shadows  and  the  warm  afternoon  light 
suggest  the  approaching  hours  of  repose,  but 
the  grass  and  the  leaves  on  the  trees  prevent 
the  thought  of  sadness  that  comes  from  the 
suggestion  of  decay,  and  the  result  is  but  a 
quiet  and  restful  impression.  The  quality  of 
light  in  the  morning  hours  is  very  similar  to  that 
in  the  evening,  except  that  it  is  apt  to  be  cooler, 
though  this  factor,  which  is  of  importance  to 
the  painter,  is  of  no  particular  consequence  to 
the  photographer.  What  does  concern  the 
camera  worker,  however,  is  the  circumstance 
that  there  is  likely  to  be  dew  on  the  grass  in  the 
morning,  and  often  mist  in  the  air,  and  in  au- 
tumn there  will  very  possibly  be  frost  on  the 
ground,  these  facts  combining  to  suggest  an 
entirely  different  mood  from  that  given  by  the 
evening  hours. 

Further,  though  it  is  possible  to  manipulate 
exposure,  development  and  printing  in  such 

8  113 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

fashion  as  to  make  the  morning  appear  the  eve- 
ning, or  vice  versa,  to  do  so  is  insincere,  and  will 
perhaps  make  the  picture  less  satisfactory  to 
the  artist  himself,  for  it  is  desirable,  in  pho- 
tography, not  to  deviate  from  the  truth  more 
than  is  necessary.  Still,  it  sometimes  happens 
that  a  chosen  spot  may  be  quite  what  is  desired 
in  every  respect  except  that  the  proper  angle  of 
light  cannot  be  secured  in  the  afternoon,  and 
the  photographer  may  be  obliged  to  expose  his 
plate  in  the  morning  and  secure  the  effect  by 
printing  deep  and  choosing  the  required  color 
for  the  print,  for  the  quality  of  negative  for 
both  morning  and  evening  renderings  is  the 
same.  Sycamores  (page  228)  and  Leylet  el 
Wahshah  (page  304)  are  typical  of  the  nega- 
tive required,  and  either  of  these  pictures, 
printed  in  a  different  key,  would  be  a  satisfac- 
tory presentation  of  the  other  time  of  day  from 
that  represented.  To  suggest  evening,  the  print 
should  be  in  a  low  key,  the  detail  in  the  shadows 
should  not  be  too  clearly  seen,  and  the  outlines 
should  be  slightly  diffused.  This  means  that  a 
soft  focus  lens  should  be  used,  the  plate  should 
be  slightly  under-exposed — or,  preferably,  un- 

114 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

der-developed,  for  under-exposure  upsets  the 
internal  relationship  of  the  gradations  at  the 
same  time  that  it  obscures  shadow  detail — and 
printing  should  be  rather  deep.  Under-devel- 
opment  gives  a  negative  which  will  in  all  prob- 
ability print  too  soft — be  lacking  in  contrast — 
and  intensification  may  be  resorted  to,  using 
an  intensifier  which  does  not  act  on  the  extreme 
shadows,  or,  as  an  alternative,  a  multiple  print 
may  be  made  in  gum,  gum-platinum,  or  oil.  It 
should  be  observed  that  if  the  values  of  the  hour 
just  after  sunset  are  correctly  recorded  so  far 
as  lies  within  the  power  of  the  camera  to  do 
so,  the  scene  will  not  have  contrast  enough  to 
give  the  desired  effect.  To  give  a  true  im- 
pression of  this  time  of  day  the  foreground 
should  be  relatively  too  dark  as  compared  to 
the  sky.  It  may  seem  strange  that  in  a  mono- 
chrome art  the  color  of  the  print  should  be  of 
importance,  but  such  is  decidedly  the  case.  Our 
impression  of  the  afternoon  and  evening  light 
is  one  of  warmth,  and  to  use  a  cold  color  for 
the  print  is  to  lose  the  suggestive  power  in- 
herent in  the  warmer  colors.  Further,  cold 
colors  lose  their  identity  sooner  than  warm 

115 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

when  the  light  is  fading,  a  blue  appearing 
black  while  a  brown  still  retains  its  character- 
istic look.  For  these  reasons  the  photographer 
will  do  well,  in  attempting  to  suggest  evening, 
to  employ  a  toned  support  for  his  image  and 
to  make  the  image  itself  brown  or  warm  black. 
The  early  morning  hours  carry  a  very  dif- 
ferent appeal  from  those  of  evening,  and  fur- 
nish an  inspiration  for  an  entirely  different 
class  of  work.  In  the  former  case  the  photog- 
rapher is  more  likely  to  feel  and  to  desire  to 
show  the  delicate,  evanescent  effect  of  mist  or 
the  gray  light  of  spring.  The  results  obtained 
in  this  manner  are  less  decidedly  peaceful  than 
those  of  the  later  hours,  and  are  perhaps  less 
deeply  moving,  but  they  are  nevertheless  po- 
tent in  evoking  memories  and  associations,  and 
in  stimulating  a  mood.  If  the  evening  hours 
are  compared  to  the  deep,  rich  quality  of  a 
piano  or  organ,  the  morning  may  be  likened 
to  the  delicate  notes  of  a  violin,  or  to  a  light 
and  charming  aria  as  distinct  from  a  full 
chorus.  As  has  been  said,  the  quality  of  the 
negative  will  be  much  the  same  in  each  case, 
though  it  may  perhaps  be  well  to  allow  a  little 

116 


LANDSCAPE  WORK         ^ 

more  shadow  detail  to  appear  when  working 
for  a  morning  effect,  and  to  have  the  defini- 
tion a  trifle  firmer — partly  because  any  mist 
will  tend  to  make  the  outlines  seem  softer 
in  the  print,  and  partly  because  a  more 
delicate  print  appears  softer  in  outline  than  one 
which  is  darker  and  more  vigorous.  It  is  well 
to  print  in  a  blue-black  on  a  white  stock, 
thus  suggesting  the  cool  light  of  morning. 

The  middle  of  the  day  will  not  generally  be 
found  so  satisfactory  for  inspirational  work  as 
either  the  earlier  or  the  later  hours,  but  it  will 
sometimes  prove  the  most  desirable  for  inter- 
pretive photography.  However,  the  shadows 
are  shorter  and  there  is  less  relief,  and  the  light 
is  ordinarily  harder  than  when  the  sun  is  nearer 
the  horizon,  so  the  hours  between  ten  and 
two  are  usually  avoided  by  the  pictorial  worker. 
It  will  be  found  that  near  the  middle  of  the  day 
a  fairly  truthful  representation  of  the  values 
is  generally  more  desirable  than  either  earlier 
or  later,  and  A  Summer  Landscape  (page  78) 
is  an  admirable  illustration  of  the  conviction 
carried  by  a  perfect  rendering,  this  picture 
being  at  the  same  time  a  good  example  of 

117 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

sound,  though  not  inspired,  landscape  photog- 
raphy. This  is  unquestionably  a  sunny  sum- 
mer day,  and  especial  attention  is  called  to  the 
transparence  of  the  shadows,  a  feature  which 
most  workers  render  far  too  dark.  The  long 
lines  of  the  road  lead  the  eye  to  the  group  of 
trees  and  buildings  in  the  distance,  whence  it  is 
carried  by  the  light  of  the  sky,  and  is  drawn 
back  to  the  group  of  trees  on  the  right,  the 
trunks  of  these  leading  it  to  the  shadows  lying 
across  the  foreground — and  the  arrangement  is 
complete.  This  picture,  therefore,  combines  a 
high  level  of  craftsmanship  with  sound  observa- 
tion, and,  though  it  cannot  be  said  to  bear  any 
great  inspiration,  it  nevertheless  has  much  feel- 
ing, and  to  those  who  are  accustomed  to  look 
below  the  surface  of  things  it  is  restful  and  pleas- 
ing beyond  many  more  dramatic  and  strained 
effects.  Comparing  this  picture  with  A  Moun- 
tain Meadow  (page  216),  we  see  that  in  the 
latter  case  the  artist  has  elected  to  depart  from 
the  truth  for  the  sake  of  pictorial  effect,  mak- 
ing use  of  exaggerated  contrast.  The  shadows 
in  a  sunlit  landscape  could  never  be  so  dark  as 
they  are  here  represented,  this  lowering  of  their 

118 


HASSIM  SEEKS  THE  GENIE  OF  THE  ROCKS 
BY  W.  G.  FITZ 

From  a  Bromide  Enlargement 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

value  being  due  partly  to  a  desire  to  emphasize 
by  contrast  the  strength  of  the  light  and  partly 
to  the  wish  to  confine  the  interest  to  the 
meadow  rather  than  allow  it  to  wander  to  the 
mountains.  Dramatic  strength  is  thus  secured 
at  the  expense  of  truth  to  fact,  and  the  impres- 
sion conveyed  by  the  picture  will  depend  on 
the  spectator's  attitude  of  mind.  Some  will 
find  the  departure  from  the  facts  so  objection- 
able as  to  vitiate  the  picture's  merit  for  them, 
whereas  others,  concerning  themselves  less  with 
the  appearances  of  nature,  will  receive  the  mes- 
sage which  the  print  intended  to  convey.  It 
is  said  that  someone  once  reproached  Turner 
for  exaggeration,  saying:1 

"  I  never  saw  a  sunset  like  that!  " 

"No,"  replied  the  painter;  "but  don't  you 
wish  you  could? " 

Whether  true  or  not,  this  anecdote  furnishes 
a  proper  rebuke  to  those  literal-minded  souls 
who  expect  an  artist  to  adhere  always  to  precise 
and  exact  representations  of  the  facts  of  nature. 

When  we  come  to  consider  the  technique  of 
landscape  photography,  we  find  that  much 
depends  on  the  style  in  which  the  artist  wishes 

119 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

to  work,  though  certain  factors  will  probably 
remain  constant.  An  orthochromatic  or  a 
panchromatic  plate  is  imperative  if  the  val- 
ues are  to  be  correctly  rendered,  and  it 
should  be  noted  that  the  color-sensitive  plate 
presents  no  advantages  over  the  ordinary 
blue-sensitive  emulsion  unless  a  suitably  ad- 
justed ray-filter  is  used,  though  the  filter 
need  not  greatly  increase  the  exposure.  In 
fact,  it  may  definitely  be  stated  that  a  filter 
which  increases  the  exposure  to  more  than  five 
times  that  required  for  the  unscreened  plate  is 
either  inefficient  or  else  is  over-correcting,  that 
is,  rendering  the  yellows  and  reds  too  light  and 
the  blues  too  dark.  Sometimes  the  filter  will 
be  intentionally  omitted,  to  secure  better  results 
from  the  pictorial  standpoint,  and  this  is  espe- 
cially the  case  when  flat,  poster-like  effects  are 
desired.  In  general,  however,  it  is  better  to  use 
the  filter,  thus  obtaining  true  values,  and  to 
depend  on  subsequent  modification  of  either 
negative  or  print  for  necessary  falsification. 

It  is  often  stated  that  the  use  of  a  filter  elim- 
inates atmosphere,  but  this  is  by  no  means  the 

case.    Atmosphere,  or  aerial  perspective,  as  it 

120 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

is  sometimes  called,  is  one  of  the  photographer's 
most  useful  tools  in  suggesting  distance  and 
depth,  for  the  camera's  monocular  vision  as 
contrasted  with  the  stereoscopic  vision  of  the 
binocular  human  being,  and  its  failure  to  repro- 
duce color,  remove  two  of  the  factors  whereby 
we  judge  distance,  leaving  only  linear  per- 
spective, variation  in  size  with  distance  and 
aerial  perspective,  or  the  progressive  lighten- 
ing of  objects  as  they  recede  into  the  distance, 
this  lightening  being  due  to  the  interposition 
of  a  veil  of  mist  of  varying  thickness  between 
the  eye  and  the  objects.  It  is  the  case  that  the 
ultra-violet  and  violet  rays  are  more  strongly 
scattered  by  water  vapor  in  the  air  than  are  the 
green  and  red,  and  since  it  is  the  shorter  waves 
(i.e.,  the  violet  and  ultra-violet)  which  affect 
the  plate  most  strongly  it  follows  that  if  a  blue- 
sensitive  emulsion  is  employed  any  mist  which 
may  be  present  will  be  more  visible  to  the  plate 
than  to  the  eye,  so  that  an  ordinary  plate  exag- 
gerates atmosphere.  Even  the  color-sensitive 
plate  is  excessively  sensitive  to  the  ultra-violet 
and  violet,  so  this  plate  also  exaggerates  at- 
mosphere when  used  without  a  filter,  but  the 

121 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

function  of  the  filter  is  to  absorb  the  ultra- 
violet and  enough  of  the  violet  to  produce  an 
effect  corresponding  to  the  visual  effect.  The 
color-sensitive  plate,  therefore,  when  used  with 
a  correcting  filter,  shows  the  scene  precisely  as 
the  eye  sees  it,  instead  of  introducing  an  exces- 
sive amount  of  atmosphere.  Except  for  spe- 
cial purposes  it  is  of  importance  to  retain 
atmospheric  perspective,  but  it  is  seldom  desir- 
able to  emphasize  it,  and  the  writer  therefore 
feels  that  the  best  plan  is  generally  to  use  a 
suitably  adjusted  fully  correcting  filter,  though 
it  may  sometimes  happen  that  a  somewhat 
lighter  filter  would  prove  valuable,  since  such 
a  one  will  exaggerate  atmosphere  slightly.  The 
writer  carries  only  the  one  filter,  however,  be- 
lieving that  a  complication  of  apparatus  is  un- 
desirable, though  this  is  a  point  which  every 
worker  must  decide  for  himself. 

For  landscape  work  the  panchromatic  plate 
has  little  if  any  advantage  over  the  orthochro- 
matic,  since  the  latter  will  render  satisfactorily 
any  color  except  red,  of  which  there  is  seldom 
any  great  amount  in  a  landscape.  Whatever 

plate  is  used  it  should  be  non-halation,  as  other- 

122 


LANDSCAPE  WORK          $ 

wise  it  will  be  impossible  to  record  properly  a 
sky-line  or  any  branches  which  may  project 
against  the  sky — the  halation  may  even  be  so 
pronounced  as  to  lose  small  branches  entirely. 
Further,  halation  will  be  present  in  the  sky 
even  though  it  may  not  be  apparent  as  such, 
the  effect  being  to  over-expose  the  sky  portion 
of  the  picture,  even  with  timing,  which  is  in- 
sufficient for  the  foreground.  In  the  writer's 
opinion,  backing  is  the  most  effective  method 
of  preventing  halation,  though  a  double-coated 
plate  is  very  efficient.  It  is  commonly  said  that 
films  are  non-halation,  and  in  ordinary  circum- 
stances this  claim  is  justified,  but  in  cases  of 
extreme  contrast — which  may  well  arise  in  land- 
scape work — they  will  not  be  found  to  stand 
the  test  so  well  as  either  double-coated  or 
backed  plates.  As  to  the  lens,  the  writer  be- 
lieves a  soft- focus  objective  to  be  preferable 
to  the  use  of  any  of  the  numerous  methods  of 
diffusing  the  image  given  by  a  corrected  lens, 
and  considers  the  best  general  focal  length  to 
be  given  by  the  empirical  rule  of  adding  the 
lengths  of  two  adjacent  sides  of  the  plate — i.e., 
nine  inches  for  4X5,  eighteen  inches  for  8X10, 

123 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

etc.  For  widespreading  landscapes  a  somewhat 
shorter  lens  may  be  preferable,  and  for  small 
isolated  bits  the  length  may  be  increased.  For 
the  rest,  the  question  of  type  of  camera  and 
lens,  the  printing  medium,  and  the  decision  as 
to  whether  to  print  direct  or  to  enlarge,  must 
be  left  to  the  individual,  though  it  may  be  of 
interest  to  state  the  writer's  own  practice, 
arrived  at  after  eleven  years  of  experiment. 
The  camera  is  a  four  by  five  reflecting  type, 
and  backed  panchromatic  plates  are  used,  for 
the  writer  wishes  to  be  prepared  to  do  portrait 
work  on  demand,  and  does  not  wish  to  bother 
with  various  kinds  of  plate.  The  plates  are 
developed  in  a  tank,  and  11X14  bromoil  prints 
are  made,  any  necessary  modifications  being 
carried  out  in  the  print  at  the  time  of  inking. 
It  is  evident  that  this  manner  of  working  prac- 
tically precludes  duplication  of  prints,  but  the 
writer  seldom  wishes  to  repeat  a  success,  and  if 
prints  are  made  for  sale  it  will  be  found  that 
the  fact  that  a  print  is  unique  will  considerably 
enhance  its  value  in  the  eyes  of  the  average 
purchaser,  though  the  writer  himself  is  very  far 
from  being  in  sympathy  with  this  attitude  of 

124 


LANDSCAPE  WORK 

mind,  and  does  not  make  unique  prints  for  such 
a  reason.  To  the  author  it  is  no  drawback  that 
a  picture  has  been  duplicated,  nor  is  his  enjoy- 
ment of  a  fine  print  impaired  by  the  fact  that 
others  have  had  the  same  opportunity  for  en- 
joyment. The  desire  for  unique  prints  is  con- 
fined to  those  whom  George  Bernard  Shaw  has 
contemptuously  termed  :<  picture-fanciers " 
and  is  not  found  among  true  picture-lovers. 

The  author  almost  always  uses  a  tripod  in 
field  work,  since  his  landscape  exposures,  using 
a  fast  plate  and  a  five-times  ray-filter,  with  a 
lens  working  at  F/5.5,  are  of  the  order  of  1/5 
second,  too  long  for  the  camera  to  be  held  in 
the  hands.  This  may  seem  an  absurdly  long 
exposure,  in  view  of  the  exceedingly  brief  ones 
given  by  speed  workers.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  in  speed  work  a  slight 
under-exposure  is  usually  not  serious,  and,  fur- 
ther, that  the  various  actinometers  and  expos- 
ure tables  on  the  market  are  calculated  to  give 
the  minimum  exposure  which  will  render 
shadow  detail  satisfactorily;  but  shadow  detail 
can  be  secured  before  the  exposure  reaches  the 
straight  portion  of  the  Hurter  and  Drifiield 

125 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

curve,  that  being  the  index  of  correct  internal 
relationship  of  the  values.  An  actinometer  is 
usually  employed,  as  the  widest  experience  is 
not  sufficient  to  enable  the  worker  to  estimate 
the  correct  exposure  in  all  circumstances,  al- 
lowance, of  course,  being  made  for  the  neces- 
sary increase  required  for  full  exposure. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  anyone  who 
so  desires  can  easily  become  a  fine  landscape 
photographer — can  at  once  leap  forward  as 
an  interpretive  or  inspirational  worker,  as 
Minerva  sprang  full-armed  from  the  brow  of 
Jove.  It  is  only  the  Bandar-log  who  expect  to 
accomplish  wonderful  things  in  a  minute 

Something  noble  and  grand  and  good, 
Won  by  merely  wishing  we  could. 

No,  a  long  and  arduous  apprenticeship  must 
be  served,  but  the  enthusiastic  photographer, 
who  loves  his  work,  as  does  every  true  artist, 
will  find  each  step  on  his  road  a  joy  and  a  de- 
light. Disappointments  there  will  be,  failures 
as  well  as  successes,  but  a  failure  is  often  more 
educational  than  a  success,  for  one  spoiled  print 
may  lead  to  scores  of  admirable  ones. 

126 


VI 

WINTER  WORK 

IN  speaking  of  winter  work  we  will  assume 
that  there  is  snow  on  the  ground,  for  unless  this 
is  the  case  the  question  resolves  itself  simply 
into  the  matter  of  ordinary  landscape  at  a  time 
when  foliage  is  lacking.  Given  snow,  however, 
winter  work  may  be  divided  into  the  same  three 
classes  as  landscape  in  general — that  is,  record, 
interpretive  and  inspirational;  with  the  con- 
spicuous difference  that  the  presence  or  lack  of 
direct  sunlight  is  of  far  more  importance  than 
in  summer  work,  being,  in  fact,  practically  a 
determining  factor  in  itself.  Sunlit  snow  is  so 
brilliant  that  it  is  almost  out  of  the  question  to 
render  it  successfully  in  any  but  a  high  key,  no 
matter  what  the  circumstances  may  be,  and 
we  have  already  seen  that  a  low  or  medium  key 
is  emphatically  indicated  for  the  strongest 
inspirational  work,  a  high  key  being  reserved 
for  the  less  powerful  record  and  interpretive 
classes.  It  may,  however,  be  doubted  whether 

127 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

any  other  natural  phenomenon  approaches,  in 
sheer  beauty,  the  effect  of  an  expanse  of  new- 
fallen  snow  with  a  late  afternoon  sun  on  it,  pro- 
vided that  the  surface  has  been  broken,  either 
artificially  or  by  the  contour  of  the  ground,  suf- 
ficiently to  give  the  necessary  relief.*  The 
intense  brilliance  and  the  exquisite  gradations 
of  light  are  then  of  a  most  stimulating  char- 
acter, and  cannot  fail  to  appeal  to  the  sensuous 
appreciation  of  anyone  who  has  the  slightest 
feeling  for  the  beauties  of  light,  so  that  the 
photographer  who  desires  to  attain  the  highest 
pitch  of  aesthetic  expression  will  find  it  to  his 
advantage  to  make  a  careful  study  of  this  char- 
acter of  subject. 

In  endeavoring  to  record  sun  on  the  snow  it 
will  be  found  that  it  is  best  to  work  before  ten 
o'clock  and  after  two,  since  between  those 
hours  the  shadows  are  short  and  a  flat,  unre- 

*  Foot-prints  are  exceedingly  useful  to  break  the  monotony 
of  the  surface.  They  are  advantageous  in  that  they  may  be 
made  precisely  where  desired;  also,  if  the  camera  is  facing 
toward  the  sun,  they  furnish  small  spots  of  contrasting  light 
and  dark — the  dark  in  the  hollow  of  the  print,  and  the  light 
where  the  sun  strikes  across  the  snow  thrown  up  by  the  feet 
alongside  the  mark  itself. 

128 


WINTER  WORK 

lieved  look  is  apt  to  result.  It  will  also  be 
found  that  the  best  effects  are  secured  if  the 
camera  is  facing  toward  the  sun  rather  than 
away  from  it,  as  is  indicated  in  Fig.  17,  where 
the  sun  should  be  in  the  hemisphere  indicated 


FIG.  17. 

by  the  solid  line  rather  than  in  that  shown  by 
the  dotted  one  (in  fact,  this  is  true  of  probably 
seven-tenths  of  all  landscape  work  done  when 
the  sun  is  shining) .  As  a  rule,  it  is  well  to  have 
some  dark  object,  such  as  a  tree,  included  in  the 
picture,  to  give  weight  to  the  scene,  but  it  will 
sometimes  be  possible  to  gain  solidity  enough 

9  129 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

by  means  of  cast  shadows  on  the  surface,  by 
open  water,  or  even  at  times  by  the  simple 
weight  of  the  sky,  and  if  the  shadows  are  falling 
toward  the  camera  they  will  be  of  considerable 
value  in  aiding  the  photographer  to  secure  the 
desired  effect. 

Sunlit  snow  is  one  of  the  few  types  of  sub- 
ject in  which  it  is  well  to  have  the  extreme  high- 
lights of  the  picture  represented  by  absolutely 
blank  paper,  but  even  in  this  case  such  areas 
should  be  small;  the  extreme  white  should  be 
reserved  for  incisive  effect  or  the  result  is  apt 
to  be  chalky,  a  fault  which  is  apparent  in  the 
great  majority  of  snow  pictures.  Most  work- 
ers think  that  brilliance  is  achieved  by  a  large 
space  of  light,  forgetting  that  it  is  a  matter  of 
contrast,  and  that  the  most  brilliant  effect  is 
obtained  by  contrasting  a  small  area  of  light 
with  a  large  space  of  a  darker  value.  Light 
loses  its  intensity  as  it  spreads,  and  this  is  quite 
as  true  in  art  as  in  physics. 

But  since  the  beauty  of  snow  in  sunlight  de- 
pends on  the  delicate  gradations  of  light,  it 
follows  that  if  the  attempt  is  made  to  render 
the  lights  too  strong,  by  introducing  excessive 

130 


FINIS 

BY  ANNIE  W.  BRIGMA1S 

From  a  Photogravure 


WINTER  WORK 

contrast,  there  is  apt  to  be  a  loss  of  gradation 
in  the  upper  half-tones.  There  must  be  a  care- 
ful adjustment  of  the  values  throughout,  this 
necessitating  precise  exposure,  development 
and  printing,  since  under-  or  over-exposure 
upsets  the  gradations  in  the  negative,  under-  or 
over- development  makes  the  total  contrast  of 
the  plate  too  slight  or  too  great,  and  incorrect 
printing  causes  the  print  to  be  either  weak  and 
characterless  or  dull  and  heavy.  Care  must 
be  taken  that  any  dark  objects  which  may  be 
present  be  not  rendered  too  dark,  this  also  being 
a  common  fault,  arising,  as  in  the  case  of  exces- 
sive white  paper,  from  a  desire  to  secure  bril- 
liance by  contrast.  The  shadow  side  of  a  tree, 
for  example,  under  the  character  of  illumina- 
tion we  are  considering,  never  looks  black ;  it  is 
at  most  a  medium  gray,  and  should  be  so 
represented. 

From  all  this  it  will  be  seen  that  pictures  of 
this  sort  are  distinctly  high-keyed  in  character. 
The  deepest  dark  is  a  medium  gray,  the  larger 
areas  of  the  print  are  a  very  light  gray,  and 
the  extreme  lights  are  white.  It  may  be  in- 
ferred that  a  soft,  clear  negative  is  required, 

131 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

and  this  is  precisely  the  case;  the  exposure 
should  be  ample,  the  development  should  be 
soft,  and  any  suspicion  of  chemical  or  light  fog 
detracts  by  just  so  much  from  the  brilliance  and 
beauty  of  the  finished  print. 

For  successful  results  it  is  absolutely  imper- 
ative to  use  a  color-sensitive  plate  and  ray- 
filter.  The  average  person  thinks  of  a  snow 
scene  as  black  and  white,  but  as  a  matter  of 
fact  there  is  a  great  deal  of  color  in  the  circum- 
stances under  discussion.  The  cast  shadows 
and  the  shadow  side  of  objects  are  illumi- 
nated solely  by  reflected  light  from  the  sky,  and 
consequently  have  an  intense  blue  color,  which 
is  actinically  so  near  to  white  that  a  non-color- 
sensitive  plate  will  hardly  differentiate  them. 
It  is  true  that  they  can  be  separated  even  on 
such  a  plate  by  a  very  brief  exposure,  but 
then  any  dark  object  present  will  be  grossly 
under-exposed,  so  it  is  far  better  to  separate  the 
values  of  light  and  shade  by  the  use  of  t!ic  ray- 
filter,  which  absorbs  the  proper  amount  of 
ultra-violet  and  violet.  The  exposures  will  be 
much  the  same  as  for  the  same  scene  in  sum- 
mer, since,  though  the  snow  reflects  more  light 

132 


WINTER  WORK  f 

than  grass  and  foliage,  the  light  is  weaker  to 
begin  with,  and,  the  contrasts  being  so  great,  it 
is  necessary  to  give  sufficient  exposure  to  per- 
mit the  shadow  detail  to  attain  a  satisfactory 
strength  early  in  the  course  of  development, 
before  the  lights  have  gained  too  much  density. 
That  is  to  say,  with  a  fast  panchromatic  plate, 
a  five- times  filter,  and  a  lens  working  at  F/5.5, 
about  1/5  second  will  be  correct  for  an  average 
snow  scene,  though  for  an  open  snow  scene 
(i.e.,  one  without  dark  objects)  a  half  or  a 
fifth  of  this  will  be  sufficient.  There  is  rarely 
any  great  amount  of  mist  present  in  sunny 
winter  weather,  so  the  photographer  must  de- 
pend on  other  factors  for  perspective,  though, 
to  be  sure,  an  ordinary  plate  will  exaggerate 
what  mist  there  may  be.  However,  the  effect 
given  by  using  such  a  plate  is  a  flattening  of 
contrast  by  lightening  the  shadows,  so  that, 
though  sunlight  is  apparent  by  reason  of  these 
shadows,  the  impression  given  by  the  print  is 
not  that  of  a  sunny  day,  but  is  a  rather  incon- 
gruous, nondescript  sort  of  thing — neither  fish, 
flesh,  nor  good  red  herring. 

As  regards  a  printing  medium  for  subjects 


133 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

of  this  type,  platinum  is  decidedly  the  best, 
though  a  good  platino-matt  bromide  is  not 
easily  distinguished  from  it.  Indeed,  if  the 
print  be  framed,  it  may  be  impossible  to  say 
that  platinum  has  not  been  used.  Gum  and 
carbon  are  not  so  desirable,  for  it  is  not  easy, 
with  either  of  those  processes,  to  retain  the  very 
delicate  beauty  of  the  extreme  lights,  and  oil 
is  not  recommended  because  one  of  its  charac- 
teristics— which,  however,  renders  it  very  use- 
ful in  other  branches  of  work — is  the  loss  of 
some  of  the  more  delicate  gradations  through- 
out the  scale  unless  the  brush  is  handled  with 
extreme  care.  It  is,  nevertheless,  possible  to 
employ  any  of  these  printing  mediums,  pro- 
vided it  is  skilfully  and  carefully  handled — it 
is  merely  that  platinum  and  bromide  are  easier 
to  manipulate  when  striving  for  this  particu- 
lar effect. 

When  we  come  to  consider  snow  under  a  dull 
illumination  the  case  is  very  different,  for  if 
direct  sunlight  is  absent  the  artistic  possibili- 
ties are  greater  and  the  technical  difficulties  are 
less.  Probably  the  easiest  and  at  the  same  time 
least  exploited  of  the  opportunities  afforded 

134 


WINTER  WORK  f 

by  this  character  of  subject  is  to  be  found  in 
poster  effects.  Curiously  shaped  trees,  wind- 
ing streams,  tree  branches  against  the  sky, 
weeds  outlined  against  the  snow,  and  many 
other  outdoor  arrangements  are  found,  which, 
when  treated  in  a  flat  and  decorative  manner, 
are  well  worthy  of  attention,  but  comparatively 
little  has  been  done  in  this  direction.  Here  it 
is  not  imperative  to  render  the  values  correctly ; 
they  may  vary  widely  from  the  actual  and  yet 
give  a  pleasing  result,  for  all — or  nearly  all — 
depends  on  the  worker's  sense  of  pattern,  and 
the  writer  has  seen  an  eminently  successful 
result  in  which  the  snow  was  represented  as  a 
dark  gray,  and  open  water  as  absolutely  black. 
Still,  prints  of  this  sort  fall  mainly  within  the 
merely  decorative  class,  being  simply  of 
aesthetic  beauty  and  rarely  carrying  any  valu- 
able psychic  suggestion,  so  that  for  the  highest 
form  of  expression  we  must  go  further.  Among 
American  photographers  George  Seeley  has 
been  more  successful  than  any  other  in  this 
style  of  work,  though  it  is  not  meant  to  imply 
that  this  represents  the  limit  of  Mr.  Seeley's 
achievement.  It  is  merely  one  phase  of  his 

135 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

work,  and  he  has  attained  a  much  higher  ex- 
pression in  other  directions  than  is  possible  in 
the  one  indicated. 

The  most  conspicuous  and  impressive  ele- 
ment in  a  winter  landscape  under  a  dull  illumi- 
nation is  the  strong  sense  of  dreariness,  of 
melancholy,  associated  with  it,  except,  indeed, 
when  there  is  a  storm  present,  in  which  case  our 
feelings  may  approach  actual  fear.  The  dull 
gray  leaden  sky,  the  flat  expanse  of  snow,  and 
the;  mist  which  is  often  at  hand,  especially 
toward  spring,  all  combine  to  form  a  most  de- 
pressing effect,  one  which  is  worthy  the  atten- 
tion of  any  artist  who  aims  at  evoking  a  mood 
in  his  audience.  A  landscape  of  this  sort,  if 
well  represented,  with  due  attention  to  horizon- 
tal lines  and  the  avoidance  of  any  bizarre  forms, 
will  prove  most  powerful  to  arouse  a  feeling 
of  melancholy,  which  many  people  will  enjoy, 
exactly  as  many  enjoy  a  play  which  draws 
tears.  Personally,  the  writer  does  not  care  for 
that  sort  of  thing;  he  would  be  rather  one  of 
those  Athenians  who  fined  the  dramatic  poet 
for  harrowing  their  feelings  with  a  tragedy; 
but  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  average  per- 

136 


WINTER  WORK  * 

son  would  prefer  tears  to  laughter,  and  that 
the  most  impressive  picture  is  the  one  which  is 
sad,  dreary,  or  melancholy  in  the  response  which 
it  calls  forth. 

When  there  is  a  storm  abroad  the  dramatic 
possibilities  rise  to  greater  heights;  for  though 
gently  falling  snow  is  quiet  and  peaceful  in  its 
suggestion  and  its  promise  of  brilliance  when 
once  the  sun  returns,  driving  snow,  swirling 
in  the  gusts  of  wind  and  irregularly  blotting 
out  the  landscape,  calls  to  mind  the  innumerable 
stories  of  travelers  who  have  been  lost  and  have 
died  before  aid  could  reach  them.  Even  in  the 
city  driving  snow  is  impressive,  its  associations 
being  so  strong,  and  when  we  add  figures  bend- 
ing and  striving  against  the  wind  in  open 
country,  where  no  houses  are  to  be  seen,  the 
sense  of  loneliness  and  peril  may  even  become 
oppressive.  One  of  the  strongest  stories  the 
present  author  has  ever  read — far  stronger  in 
conception  than  in  execution — describes  the 
experience  of  two  Gloucester  fishermen  whose 
dory  became  separated  from  the  schooner,  so 
that  the  men  were  forced  to  row  several  hun- 
dred miles  to  land.  One  of  the  men — hardly 

137 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

more  than  a  boy — succumbed  to  the  cold,  and 
his  mate  continued  alone,  that  the  dead  man 
might  have  Christian  burial  ashore,  the  sur- 
vivor's bitter  hardships  being  still  further  in- 
creased by  a  snowstorm.  The  sense  of  danger 
and  desolation  given  by  the  picture  of  this 
solitary  man  driving  his  boat  day  after  day 
through  blinding  snow,  his  mate's  body  lying  in 
the  stern,  could  hardly  be  augmented  by  any 
device  whatever,  and  is  one  which  might  well 
be  rendered  in  a  photograph,  though  never  so 
well  as  by  a  master  of  words.  So  the  camera 
user  who  wishes  to  stir  the  deeper  feelings  will 
make  use  of  storm  and  driving  snow,  concen- 
trating his  attention — as  he  needs  must — on  the 
foreground,  and  probably  making  use  of  fig- 
ures to  aid  his  expression.  Ruskin  is  credited 
with  having  said  that  no  picture  could  be  truly 
great  unless  it  contained  a  human  figure,  or  at 
least  some  suggestion  of  humanity,  and  though 
such  a  statement  is  certainly  not  correct,  it  is 
nevertheless  true  that  the  introduction  of  a  fig- 
ure is  often  of  marked  assistance,  and  this  is 
nowhere  more  conspicuously  the  case  than  in 
the  more  dramatic  snow  scenes.  Such  figures, 

138 


WINTER  WORK  f 

however,  will  generally  have  to  be  posed,  since 
there  is  usually  not  enough  light  for  a  snap- 
shot, and  they  should  not  be  too  large  or  they 
will  overpower  the  landscape  and  the  picture 
will  fall  within  the  realm  of  genre.  Still,  even 
in  pure  landscape  the  possibilities  are  great, 
and  the  camera  worker  is  advised  to  turn  his 
attention  to  cloudy  and  stormy  snow  scenes 
rather  than  to  brightly  lighted  ones. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  for  this  class  of 
work  the  color-sensitive  plate  rarely  presents 
any  advantage  over  the  ordinary  one.  The 
landscape  is  almost  entirely  of  a  gray  cast,  and 
can  be  rendered  quite  as  well  on  a  blue-sensi- 
tive emulsion  as  on  an  orthochromatic  or  a  pan- 
chromatic one.  The  only  advantage  of  the 
color- sensitive  plate  and  filter  is  in  cases  where 
we  do  not  wish  to  exaggerate  atmosphere — a 
point  which  is  generally  of  little  importance, 
subjects  of  this  class  being  ordinarily  fore- 
ground studies.  The  exposures  will  be  some- 
what longer  than  when  the  sun  is  visible,  and 
development  will  be  much  the  same.  There  is 
a  wider  choice  of  printing  mediums  than  for 
sunlit  snow,  since  here  gum,  carbon  and  oil  are 

139 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

valuable,  the  beauty  and  impressiveness  of  the 
scene  not  depending  on  the  precise  rendering  of 
delicate  gradations  of  light. 

Whatever  medium  is  chosen  the  color  of  the 
image  is  of  great  importance,  for  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  associate  blue  with  cold — not,  how- 
ever, because  of  the  effect  on  our  noses  and 
fingers.  Ask  the  average  person  the  color  of 
sunlit  snow  and  the  answer  will  probably  be, 
"  White."  Ask  him  the  color  of  cast  shadows 
on  snow  and  he  will  reply,  "  Why,  gray." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  shadows  on  snow  are 
of  an  intense  blue,  being,  as  has  been  explained, 
illuminated  solely  by  reflected  light  from  the 
sky;  and  the  lights  may  range  from  white  to 
crimson,  depending  on  the  character  of  the  sun- 
light. The  color  of  the  lights  reacts  on  our  color 
sense  to  modify  the  apparent  color  of  the  shad- 
ows, so  it  is  impossible  to  say  that  either  lights 
or  shadows  have  any  definite  and  permanent 
color.  Still,  it  is  well  for  the  photographer, 
who  is  limited  to  a  monochrome  rendering, 
to  adhere  to  a  white  stock  and  a  blue-black 
image,  since  he  will  thus  approach  more  nearly 
to  the  psychic  effect  of  snow  than  is  otherwise 

140 


WINTER  WORK 

possible,  such  a  selection  being  advisable  even 
in  the  case  of  snow  under  a  dull  light,  the  belief 
that  snow  is  invariably  white  being  so  firmly 
rooted  in  the  minds  of  most  persons  that  they 
will  resent  any  attempt  to  represent  it  other- 
wise. It  is,  however,  possible  at  times — when 
working  with  sunlit  snow — to  employ  a  slightly 
yellowish  paper  for  the  support,  thus  enhancing 
the  brilliance  of  the  lights. 

Most  authors,  when  writing  on  the  subject  of 
winter  work,  insist  on  the  necessity  for  comfort, 
but  this  is  by  no  means  imperative.  The  writer 
once  stood  for  nearly  an  hour  in  the  snow,  most 
inadequately  dressed,  with  the  thermometer  at 
six  degrees  above  zero  and  a  vigorous  wind 
blowing,  in  order  to  secure  a  picture.  He  was 
thoroughly  uncomfortable,  but  the  picture  was 
a  success  and  no  ill  effect  followed;  but  this  is 
not  recommended.  It  is,  after  all,  well  to  be 
properly  dressed  to  resist  the  cold,  since,  apart 
from  the  possibility  of  acquiring  pneumonia, 
one  cannot  do  good  work  when  uncomfortable ; 
he  is  more  apt  to  hurry  the  selection  of  the  sub- 
ject  and  the  making  of  the  exposure,  and  the 
finished  result  will  show  the  effects  of  haste, 

141 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

since  it  is  at  times  necessary  to  wait  for  a  pro- 
longed period  in  order  to  secure  the  arrange- 
ment of  lighting  and  clouds  necessary  to  the 
desired  expression. 

To  summarize,  then,  it  may  be  said  that  sun- 
lit snow  probably  aff ords  the  most  favorable  of 
all  subjects  in  the  entire  realm  of  landscape 
when  pure  sestheticism  is  the  aim,  whereas 
snow  under  a  dull  sky,  or  in  storm,  is  hardly 
surpassed  by  any  other  type  of  subject  for 
stimulating  and  dramatic  possibilities ;  and  that 
whereas  the  photographer  who  will  extract  its 
full  meaning  from  the  former  must  be  a  master 
craftsman,  the  one  who  will  make  full  use  of 
the  opportunities  offered  by  the  latter  must  be 
a  master  artist,  capable  of  feeling  and  expres- 
sing the  strongest  emotions  of  the  human  souL 


BLIND  MAN'S  BUFF 

BY  CLARENCE  H.  WHITE 

From  a  Platinum  Print 


VII 

LANDSCAPE  WITH  FIGURES;  FIGURES  IN 
LANDSCAPE;  GENRE;  ILLUSTRATION 

THE  introduction  of  figures  into  landscape 
vastly  extends  the  possibilites  of  expression, 
but  these  are  very  different  in  summer  from 
what  they  are  in  winter,  simply  by  reason  of  the 
difference  in  clothing.  In  winter  the  models 
must  be  clothed  if  a  bizarre  effect  is  to  be 
avoided — in  fact,  they  will  usually  insist  on 
being  clothed — whereas  in  summer  nude  or 
partly  nude  figures  may  be  employed.  A  di- 
rect result  of  this  is  that  in  winter  we  are  chiefly 
limited  to  such  pictures  as  are  descriptive  or 
expressive  of  experiences  within  the  range  of 
actual  human  affairs;  but  in  summer,  using 
nude  or  partly  draped  figures,  we  can  make 
excursions  into  the  realm  of  imagination,  peo- 
pling our  pictures  with  fairies  and  dryads, 
fauns  and  satyrs,  elves,  nymphs  and  sprites, 
and,  indeed,  with  all  the  wondrous  dwellers  in 
the  world  of  myth  and  fancy. 

143 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Landscape  with  Figures. — It  is,  however, 
necessary  to  decide  whether  the  picture  is  to  be  a 
landscape  with  figures  or  figures  in  a  landscape 
setting,  the  latter  verging  on  the  realm  of  genre 
— "  a  picture  which  tells  a  story  ";  and  it  not 
infrequently  happens  that  we  see  a  print  which 
shows  clearly  that  the  artist  has  been  unable  to 
determine  which  form  of  expression  he  would 
choose,  the  figures  and  the  setting  warring 
with  each  other  for  attention,  and  the  picture, 
between  these  two  conflicting  forces,  falling 
to  the  ground.  Unity  must  always  be  para- 
mount. In  using  figures  to  explain  or  to  give 
force  to  a  landscape  it  will  be  obvious  that  their 
attire  and  actions  should  be  in  harmony  with 
the  landscape  itself.  City  clothes  are  as  much 
out  of  place  in  the  country  as  the  garments  of 
a  farmer  are  in  the  city,  and  the  soft  and  flow- 
ing draperies  of  Greek  mythology  will  har- 
monize as  little  with  a  rugged  and  bare 
mountain  sierra  as  the  furs  of  an  Eskimo  would 
with  the  African  veldt.  Though  it  may  seem 
superfluous  to  mention  this,  it  is  nevertheless 
just  such  details  that  are  often  ignored  by  pho- 
tographers, with  incongruous  result;  we  can 

144 


LANDSCAPE  WITH  FIGURES' 

forgive  Shakespeare  for  introducing  striking 
clocks  into  ancient  Rome,  but  lesser  men  must 
mind  their  P's  and  Q's.  It  is  necessary  also 
to  study  the  inhabitants  of  a  country  with  care, 
so  that  not  only  their  garb  but  also  their  actions 
may  harmonize  with  the  idea  to  be  expressed  as 
well  as  with  the  character  of  the  scene — and 
the  two  are  not  always  the  same.  Of  course,  it 
not  infrequently  happens  that  the  figures  take 
their  place  naturally,  without  intervention  on 
the  part  of  the  photographer;  but  such  an  oc- 
curence  must  not  be  counted  on,  and  the  cam- 
era user  must  be  sufficiently  equipped  with 
knowledge  to  correct  any  errors  that  may  creep 
in.  One  of  the  greatest  faults  with  photog- 
raphers as  well  as  writers  is  inattention  to  de- 
tail, and  it  is  an  error  into  which  the  average 
photographer  is  prone  to  fall.  This  does  not 
mean  "  details  " — though  these  are  by  no  means 
to  be  ignored — but  refers  to  the  fact  that  insuf- 
ficient care  is  taken  to  make  the  component 
parts  of  the  work  historically,  geographically 
and  ethnically  correct.  Edward  Lucas  White 
is  quoted  as  saying  that  he  spent  fifteen  years  in 
study  in  preparation  for  his  story  "  El  Su- 

10  145 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

premo,"  and  it  is  this  spirit  which  prevents  a 
person  from  falling  into  such  gross  errors  as 
characterize  the  work  of  a  writer  of  popular 
detective  fiction  when  he  speaks  of  being  able 
to  photograph  at  night  because  the  camera  had 
an  ultra-rapid  shutter  and  of  using  the  ultra- 
violet rays  for  fog-piercing  photography.  Of 
course,  a  story  or  a  picture  may  be  meticulously 
correct  and  at  the  same  time  extremely  dull; 
but,  other  things  being  equal,  the  one  in  which 
there  are  no  gross  and  obvious  errors  is  the  bet- 
ter. A  wide  field  for  discussion  is  here  opened 
up.  For  example,  the  "  Morte  d' Arthur  "  is 
historically  inexact  in  every  respect,  but  Mal- 
ory, by  force  of  genius,  has  surrounded  his 
legendary  heroes  and  heroines  with  such  an 
aura  of  romance  that  they  seem  real  people. 
We  forget,  in  our  delight  in  their  courtly  chiv- 
alry, that  they  actually  lived  in  mud  huts, 
dressed  in  skins,  and  fought  with  clubs.  Xot 
everyone,  however,  is  a  Malory,  and  the  safer 
plan  is  that  of  Defoe,  who  made  sure  of  his 
detail  and  employed  his  genius  to  build  great 
romances  on  a  sure  foundation  of  fact. 

The  author  would  point  out  the  erroneous- 

146 


LANDSCAPE  WITH  FIGURES 

ness  of  the  commonly  held  belief  that  when 
nude  figures  are  used  in  a  picture  they  must 
necessarily  be  female.  The  male  figure  is  fully 
as  beautiful  to  the  seeing  eye  as  the  female,  and, 
indeed,  is  more  likely  to  be  graceful  and  well 
constructed,  since  men  are  more  given  to  physi- 
cal exercise  than  women.  The  writer  has  seen 
a  man  of  about  twenty  years  of  age  who  might 
have  posed,  just  as  he  stood,  for  any  of  the 
Greek  sculptors,  and  was  far  more  beautiful 
than  any  woman  within  the  writer's  experience ; 
no  professional  model  of  the  studios  ever  ap- 
proached the  grace  and  beauty  of  that  slim 
young  athlete,  and  the  only  statue  of  a  woman 
which  could  be  compared  with  him  for  com- 
bined physical  perfection  and  high  intellectual 
development  is  that  Victory  which  is  commonly 
misnamed  a  Venus — the  one  of  Milo. 

In  using  nude  models,  however,  there  is  one 
element  which  must  receive  careful  attention — 
namely,  the  fact  that  no  question  of  the  model's 
personality  may  be  allowed  to  obtrude  itself. 
So  soon  as  people  begin  to  ask,  "  Who  is  it?  "  at 
that  instant  the  model  becomes  simply  a  naked 
man  or  woman,  and  the  picture  becomes  offen- 

147 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

sive.  It  is  said  that  Whistler  used  to  draw  a 
beautiful  girl  and  then  scratch  his  pencil  back 
and  forth  across  the  face,  in  order  to  force  the 
spectator  to  look  at  other  qualities  in  the  work 
than  mere  beauty  of  feature;  but  it  may  be 
doubted  if  this  practice  is  sound,  for  the  very 
fact  of  the  face  being  obliterated  would  be 
likely  to  draw  attention  to  it,  and  the  photog- 
rapher will  do  well  to  employ  other  means  for 
concentrating  the  interest  elsewhere.  George 
Bernard  Shaw  has  well  said  that  turning  the 
model's  face  away  gives  her  an  unpleasant  air 
of  doing  something  she  is  ashamed  of,  and  it  is 
worth  noting  that  true  modesty  does  not  con- 
sist, as  most  people  think,  in  being  ashamed  of 
one's  body,  but  in  being  unconscious  of  it.  If 
the  artist  can  make  his  model  seem  unconscious 
of  the  fact  that  he — or  she — has  no  clothes  on, 
there  will  be  no  slightest  suggestion  of  immod- 
esty, and  no  pains  are  too  great  to  take  to  this 
end,  for  there  are  few  things  in  art  more  objec- 
tionable than  evident  nakedness.  Numerous 
methods  are  available  for  this  purpose,  among 
them  being  softening  of  the  outlines  through 
the  use  of  an  uncorrected  lens,  having  the  model 

148 


LANDSCAPE  WITH  FIGURES 

evidently  engaged  in  some  action,  having  the 
model's  attention  directed  definitely  at  some 
object  or  toward  some  particular  spot,  or  mak- 
ing the  figure  small  in  comparison  with  the 
surroundings;  as  well  as  using  several  figures, 
the  attention  being  distributed  among  them. 
Of  course,  two  or  more  of  these  methods  may 
be  employed  in  one  picture,  but  whatever  plan 
is  followed  care  must  be  taken  to  see  that  it  is 
effective,  and  it  may  generally  be  stated  that 
the  model  should  not  be  too  clearly  seen — that 
is,  the  figure  must  either  be  softened  as  to  out- 
line or"  else  partly  hidden  in  shadow.  It  is, 
further,  a  fundamental  law  of  psychology  that 
suggestion  is  more  powerful  than  delineation, 
and  artists  have  long  known  that  it  is  not  what 
we  see  but  what  we  imagine  that  makes  the 
strongest  impression.  From  this  it  follows  that 
a  nude  figure  is  not  so  suggestive — in  the  op- 
probrious sense  of  the  word — as  a  partly  draped 
one;  the  figure  should  be  entirely  nude  or  else 
fully  draped,  or  extra  pains  will  be  necessary 
to  avoid  the  feeling  of  impropriety.  Still  fur- 
ther, it  may  be  said  that  although  the  nude  is 
a  subject  which  sooner  or  later  attracts  nearly 

149 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

all  pictorial  photographers,  the  camera  is  the 
least  satisfactory  of  all  mediums  of  expression 
for  this  class  of  work,  its  very  literalness  mak- 
ing it  the  most  difficult  of  all  to  handle.  How- 
ever, it  is  possible  to  produce  photographs 
including  nude  figures  which  are  not  only  thor- 
oughly unobjectionable,  but  are  even  very 
beautiful  and  expressive.  George  Du  Maurier 
said  that  the  spectacle  of  Trilby  posing  for  the 
figure  was  "  a  thing  to  *  *  *  sober  Silenus 
and  chasten  Jove  himself,"  and  it  is  perfectly 
true  that  a  fine  and  beautiful  figure,  if  well 
presented,  is  far  less  objectionable  than  the 
same  figure  in  modern  costume — as  modern 
costume  so  often  is  seen.  In  this  connection  it 
is  interesting  to  note  that  the  power  of  sug- 
gestion is  proved  by  the  fact,  observed  by  trav- 
elers, that  among  savage  tribes  chastity  is  most 
common  where  fewest  clothes  are  worn,  being,  in 
fact,  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  amount  of  covering 
on  the  bodies  of  the  members  of  the  tribe,  as 
dictated  by  local  custom;  and  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  Christianity — or  rather  of  the  accom- 
panying garments — is  followed  by  a  decline  in 
moral  standards.  So,  though  nude  figures  are 

150 


LANDSCAPE  WITH  FIGURES 

0' 

difficult  to  treat  well — since  it  must  be  done  so 
admirably  as  to  overcome  the  latent  inheritance 
from  our  Puritan  ancestors — if  they  are  well 
treated  they  afford  great  opportunities  for  fine 
and  noble  expression. 

It  has  been  said  that  figures  may  be  used  to 
explain  a  landscape,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to 
understand  how  this  may  be  the  case.  Refer- 
ring, for  example,  to  A  Mountain  Meadow 
(page  216),  suppose  the  farmer  and  the  hay- 
rake  to  be  lacking,  and  it  will  at  once  be  clear 
that,  although  the  scene  will  still  be  of  a  farm- 
ing country,  it  will  not  be  so  definitely  and 
positively  so,  and  much  of  the  force  of  the  pic- 
ture will  be  lost.  In  like  manner,  a  cow-puncher 
or  an  Indian  in  the  West,  a  fisherman  along  the 
coast,  or  any  denizen  of  a  particular  locality, 
may  serve  to  identify  the  spot  and  at  the  same 
time  to  add  vigor  and  emphasis  to  the  expres- 
sion of  the  fundamental  idea  or  emotion. 

In  the  case  of  A  Country  Road  (page  104) 
the  figure  is  introduced  solely  to  give  vitality 
to  the  scene,  and  this  indicates  a  very  useful 
function  of  figures.  Here  the  picture  is  very 
evidently  precisely  what  the  title  says :  the  old 

151 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

barn,  the  overhanging  tree,  the  distant  hills, 
and  the  winding  path  beside  the  road  all  com- 
bine to  make  clear  the  character  of  the  spot; 
but  an  empty  road  is  apt  to  be  bald  and  unin- 
teresting, so  the  girl  was  brought  in  to  add  an 
element  of  interest,  to  show  that  this  is  really 
and  truly  a  road,  leading  somewhere,  and  the 
human  factor  tends  to  start  a  train  of  thought. 
The  spectator  finds  himself  unconsciously 
linked  up  with  the  joys  and  sorrows,  the  hopes 
and  fears,  the  work,  the  play,  the  pains  and  the 
pleasures  of  those  who  travel  the  road.  It  must 
not  be  supposed  that  all  this  was  in  the  photog- 
rapher's mind  at  the  time  of  taking  the  picture 
(in  fact,  it  may  be  doubted  if  any  artist  ever 
deliberately  synthesized  a  picture  in  this  fash- 
ion, and  we  may  be  fairly  sure  that  if  he  did  the 
result  was  a  failure)  ;  but  it  is  simply  the  case 
that  he  felt  the  appeal  of  the  road,  and  made 
this  photograph  because  it  seemed  good  to  him. 
Evidently,  the  fact  of  the  model  being  a  young 
girl  rather  than  a  bent  old  man  throws  the  sen- 
timent of  the  picture  toward  the  lighter,  more 
joyous  things  of  life,  and  this  particular  model 
was  used  merely  because  the  photographer  felt 

152 


FIGURES  IN  LANDSCAPES 

joyous  on  that  occasion ;  he  was  well  and  happy, 
and  melancholy  had  no  part  in  his  life,  and  feel- 
ing that  way  he  undertook  to  express  himself, 
as  unconsciously  as  a  bird  sings  or  a  child  plays. 
It  is  thus  that  the  artist  should  always  work, 
and  the  question  of  whether  or  not  this  is  a 
great  picture  does  not  enter  into  the  matter  at 
all.  To  be  sure,  it  is  not  a  great  picture ;  it  is 
not  epic  but  lyric — allegro  rather  than  maes- 
toso. But  it  is  at  all  events  a  sincere  expression 
of  the  spirit  which  animated  the  photographer 
at  the  time  when  it  was  taken,  and  so  may  per- 
haps serve  to  remind  someone  of  pleasant,  if 
not  lofty,  thoughts  and  experiences. 

Figures  in  Landscape. — So  figures  may 
serve  to  emphasize  or  explain  a  landscape,  and 
in  like  manner  a  landscape  setting  may  give 
force  to  the  thought  or  emotion  expressed  by  a 
figure,  as  in  Hassim  Seeks  the  Genie  of  the 
Rocks  (page  116),  where  the  setting  is  evi- 
dently explanatory,  or  in  The  Bat  (page  154) , 
where  the  suggestion  of  a  cave  behind  the  figure 
helps  to  carry  out  the  dark  and  terrible  thought 
of  vampires  and  all  evil  things  of  the  night.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  latter  picture  depends  far 

153 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

more  on  the  spectator's  imagination  than  the 
former ;  true,  both  require  some  familiarity  with 
legend,  but  the  ^Hassim  is  the  more  literal  of 
the  two;  there  is  less  mystery  and  slurring  of 
detail,  less  of  empty  shadows  and  formless  out- 
line, and  the  picture  as  a  whole  belongs  in  the 
realms  of  genre  rather  than  in  the  world  of  the 
imagination.  This  is  by  no  means  to  belittle 
the  success  of  the  Hassim,  for  the  artist  has 
accomplished  what  he  set  out  to  do — that  is,  to 
illustrate  a  particular  passage  of  a  particular 
story — no  light  task,  for  Eastern  romance  is  in 
itself  so  full  of  wonder  that  the  mere  name  is  one 
to  conjure  with,  but  few  artists  have  shown  the 
imaginative  power  which  is  characteristic  of 
Mrs.  Kasebier's  work.  So,  too,  in  Mrs.  Brig- 
man's  remarkable  pictures,  taken  in  the  moun- 
tains of  California,  the  landscape  generally 
serves  merely  as  a  setting  for  the  figure,  but  it 
is  nevertheless  the  case  that  the  one  is  so  well 
fitted  to  the  other  than  any  change  or  modifica- 
tion of  the  arrangement  would  vitiate  the 
whole. 

Genre. — Genre  is  sometimes  defined,  as  has 
been  suggested,  as  "  a  picture  which  tells  a 

154 


GENRE 

story,"  but  this  is  not  quite  complete,  for  it 
actually  comprises  more  than  mere  story-tell- 
ing, the  dictionary  definition  being,  "  a  style  of 
painting  or  other  art  illustrative  of  common 
life  " ;  so  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  not  neces- 
sarily any  story  present,  though,  of  course, 
such  may  exist.  Many  of  the  paintings  of  the 
Dutch  artists  are  merely  illustrative  of  man- 
ners and  customs,  whereas  others  are  definitely 
narrative,  and  it  is  not  always  easy  to  say  just 
where  the  dividing  line  is  found.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  a  determining  factor  may  be 
found  in  the  question  of  a  title ;  if  one  is  neces- 
sary, the  picture  falls  into  the  story-telling 
class;  but  if  it  is  satisfactory  without  verbal 
explanation,  it  is  purely  and  simply  illustra- 
tive. This  is  by  no  means  a  sound  guide, 
though,  for  a  picture  may  tell  a  story  quite  well 
without  words.  Meissonier's  La  Rixe  is  quite 
definitely  a  brawl,  even  though  the  title  may 
remain  entirely  unknown,  and  the  only  con- 
clusion we  can  reach  is  that  the  way  to  dis- 
tinguish between  illustrative  and  narrative 
pictures  is,  curiously  enough,  to  look  at  them! 
A  well-known  painter  has  said:  "  The  pic- 

155 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

ture  which  needs  a  title  should  never  have  been 
painted  " — a  view  which  is  gaining  acceptance 
at  the  present  time,  but  one  with  which  the 
writer  cannot  altogether  agree.  The  idea,  of 
course,  is  that  graphic  art  should  not  infringe 
on  the  domain  of  literary  art  but  should  remain 
entirely  a  matter  of  visual  perception ;  but  this 
attitude,  though  fundamentally  sound,  is  ca- 
pable of  being  carried  to  excess.  Originally 
all  art  was  literary  in  character;  for  the  early 
painters  devoted  themselves  to  the  service  of 
the  Church,  and  their  effort  was  to  make  the 
terrors  of  hell  and  the  joys  of  heaven  more  vivid 
to  the  worshippers  who  saw  their  altar-pieces 
and  frescos,  and  to  depict  incidents  in  the  lives 
of  the  saints,  with  the  purpose  of  stimulating 
religious  fervor.  This  was  pure  story-telling. 
Gradually,  however,  painters  came  to  realize 
that  there  were  other  subjects  of  interest,  quite 
as  worthy  of  their  attention  as  the  Virgin  and 
the  saints,  and  art  became  more  general  in  its 
choice  of  material,  finding  its  subject-matter  in 

The  market-girls'  and1  fishermen, 

The  shepherds  and  the  sailors,  too, 
156 


THE  BAT 

BY  GERTRUDE  KASEBIER 

From  a  Gum  Print 


GENRE 

though  the  literary  idea  still  persisted.  With 
the  advent  of  photography  painters  realized 
that  here  was  a  medium  which  could  show  the 
affairs  of  daily  life  with  far  greater  fidelity 
than  the  brush.  Whether  for  this  reason  or  for 
another,  they  began  to  turn  their  attention  to 
other  things,  one  feature  of  this  change  of  pur- 
pose being  the  advent  of  the  Post-Impression- 
ists, Cubists,  Futurists  and  similar  schools,  who, 
seeing  that  form  is  the  basis  of  literary  painting, 
discard  form  altogether  or  distort  it  beyond 
recognition  and  rely  solely  on  pattern  and 
color.  It  is  ridiculous  to  suppose  that  any 
graphic  art  which  appeals  to  the  intellect  can 
ever  entirely  ignore  form,  and  the  temporary 
popularity  of  these  abnormal  manifestations  of 
art  is  due  partly  to  the  very  human  desire  for 
novelty — a  desire  which  is  at  the  root  of  all  true 
progress.  The  chief  fault  in  the  matter  lies 
with  the  public  that  accepts  these  weird  produc- 
tions with  the  same  serious  consideration  that 
would  be  accorded  to  true  works  of  art. 

However,  aside  from  these  abnormal  paint- 
ers, many  genuine  artists,  by  no  means  unbal- 
anced, and  quite  free  from  any  suspicion  of 

157 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

charlatanry,  have  set  themselves  to  establish  a 
type  of  painting  which  is  to  be  free  from  any 
literary  relationship,  though  it  may  be  doubted 
if  the  effort  will  ever  be  fully  successful.  As 
pointed  out  in  a  former  chapter,  graphic  art 
appeals  to  the  intellect  as  well  as  to  the  senses, 
and  in  ignoring  the  intellectual  side  the  artist 
would  seem  to  be  deliberately  discarding  one 
valuable  portion  of  his  power  of  affecting  the 
spectator  and  of  delivering  his  message.  This 
is  one  reason  for  the  author's  refusal  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  idea  that  a  picture  should  neces- 
sarily be  complete  without  a  title;  the  brain 
receives  impressions  in  various  ways,  and  the 
author  holds  that  the  chief  end  of  art  is  to  con- 
vey an  impression,  the  means  being  of  less 
importance  than  the  accomplishment  of  the 
purpose.  To  say  that  graphic  art  must  never 
call  literary  art  to  its  aid  is  precisely  on  a  par 
with  saying  that  literary  art  must  never  depend 
for  assistance  on  music — that  poetry  must  al- 
ways be  recited,  never  sung. 

The  writer  cheerfully  admits  that  this  atti- 
tude will  not  find  favor  among  modern  artists, 
but  will  be  termed  reactionary,  especially  by 

158 


GENRE 

the  ultra-modern  among  photographers ;  never- 
theless he  insists  that  when  one  starts  out  to  do 
a  thing  the  main  point  is  to  accomplish  the  pur- 
pose regardless  of  the  method,  provided,  of 
course,  that  it  can  be  done  without  inflicting 
undue  hardship  on  another,  a  danger  which 
does  not  exist  in  the  realm  of  art — no  one  need 
look  at  a  picture  unless  he  wants  to.  It  was 
said  of  Mark  Twain  that  "  he  would  split  an 
infinitive  with  anyone,"  and  no  great  artist  has 
ever  been  a  purist  in  style,  even  Shakespeare  at 
times  using  faulty  grammar.  It  is  also  admit- 
ted that  adherence  to  the  idea  that  a  picture 
may  properly  be  literary  will  not  bring  one  the 
favor  of  exhibitions — to  be  popular  one  must 
shout  with  the  mob,  as  Mr.  Pickwick  said,  and 
if  there  are  two  mobs  shout  with  the  larger. 
But  the  true  artist  is  the  one  who  has  a  vision 
and  strives  to  express  it,  and  to  him  "  the  shout- 
ing cities  "  are  of  as  little  worth  as  they  proved 
to  Diego  Valdez.  However,  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  eccentricity  is  necessarily  a  sign 
of  genius;  it  may  quite  as  well  be,  and  more 
often  is,  a  symptom  of  mental  weakness.  The 
painter  or  sculptor  who  is  unable  to  attract 

159 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

attention  by  unusual  mental  powers  at  times 
endeavors  to  accomplish  this  result  by  mere 
eccentricity  (the  originator  of  the  post-im- 
pressionist school  is  said  to  have  admitted  that 
he  is  a  faker),  but  such  a  one  may  be  distin- 
guished from  the  original  thinker  by  the  fact 
that  the  latter  does  not  care  whether  he  attracts 
attention  or  not.  Michael  Faraday  once  dem- 
onstrated a  newly  discovered  scientific  princi- 
ple to  a  group  of  students,  showed  them  a 
working  model  which  he  had  constructed  to 
indicate  the  application  of  the  principle,  and 
then  said:  "  We  will  now  turn  this  over  to  the 
calculators."  The  original  worker  in  art  is 
equally  careless  of  popular  applause. 

Since  genre  work  is  to  be  illustrative  of  com- 
mon life,  it  must  almost  inevitably  include  a 
figure  or  figures,  and  given  this  proviso,  there 
seems  to  be  little  limit  to  the  possibilities  of  this 
form  of  expression,  as  little,  in  fact,  as  there  is 
to  life  itself,  for  genre  may  impinge  on  either 
landscape  or  portraiture.  Repin's  painting, 
The  Cossacks'  Reply  to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey, 
is  fundamentally  genre,  but  the  greater  portion 
of  the  interest  lies  in  the  wonderful  depiction 

160 


GENRE  f 

of  the  individuals  forming  the  group.  It  is  im- 
possible to  look  at  the  picture  and  not  under- 
stand the  character  of  each  man  included,  from 
the  burly,  jovial  savage  to  the  lean,  reserved 
and  maliciously  cruel  barbarian — even  to  the 
slighter,  more  educated,  but  no  less  dangerous 
clerk  who  writes  the  reply:  each  one  is  a  fighter, 
from  choice  and  predilection,  and  no  one  of 
them  would  we  care  to  meet  alone  at  night. 
This  is  genre,  but  it  is  also  portraiture  of  no 
mean  order,  and,  in  fact,  genre  should  usually 
fulfil  this  requirement,  for  the  circumstances 
surrounding  the  individual  and  the  influences 
at  work  in  his  life  leave  their  impress  on  his 
features,  and  his  portrait  is  to  that  extent  ex- 
planatory of  the  time  and  place  in  which  he 
lives. 

Nevertheless  it  must  not  be  supposed  that 
portraiture  is  imperative  in  this  class  of  work, 
for  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  genre — if,  in- 
deed, he  was  not  the  greatest  of  them  all — Jean 
Fra^ois  Millet,  habitually  slighted  the  faces 
of  his  models,  brushing  them  in  with  broad 
strokes,  and  depending  for  his  expression  of 
character  rather  on  pose  and  action,  on  the  main 

11  161 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

organic  lines  of  the  individual,  than  on  facial 
markings.  Evidently  Millet's  is  the  more  pow- 
erful mode  of  expression,  for,  as  has  already 
been  pointed  out,  the  more  detail  we  can  omit 
the  better,  provided  the  effect  does  not  suffer; 
but  not  everyone  is  a  Millet,  and  the  master  can 
do  what  the  scholars  cannot. 

Still  another  style  of  genre  is  to  be  found  in 
a  war  poster  by  Joseph  Pennell,  in  which  the 
expression  depends  on  showing  the  accomplish- 
ments of  man  rather  than  man  himself.  A  bat- 
tleship, an  airplane,  railroad  tracks  and  sundry 
other  works  of  man's  hands  combine  to  make  a 
most  forceful  appeal;  but  the  only  indication 
of  human  beings  is  found  in  a  few  small  figures, 
so  minute  as  hardly  to  be  recognizable  as  men. 
Some  may  say  that  since  suggestion  is  more 
powerful  than  delineation  this  last  form  of 
genre  is  the  best,  but  the  writer  is  not  prepared 
to  agree  with  this  idea.  It  is,  however,  a  very 
strong  style,  and  deserves  the  attention  of  the 
camera  worker. 

Generally  speaking,  figures  will  play  an  im- 
portant role  in  genre,  and,  of  course,  due  at- 
tention must  be  paid  that  they  harmonize  with 

162 


GENRE  * 

the  scheme  of  the  picture,  not  merely  in  pose 
and  dress  (this  is  obvious)  but  also  in  feature, 
when  the  face  is  to  be  made  use  of  in  the  effort 
toward  expression,  this  being  a  matter  which 
is  too  often  overlooked.  The  writer  has  seen  an 
obvious  city  girl  posing  as  a  milk-maid — prop- 
erly dressed  for  the  part,  to  be  sure — and  has 
frequently  seen  photographs  in  which  an  un- 
mistakable Caucasian  took  the  part  of  a  Jap- 
anese. Such  an  effect  is  hardly  likely  to  be 
convincing,  nor  is  the  result  impressive  when  a 
twentieth-century  damsel  poses  as  a  medieval 
chatelaine  unless  the  artist  has  enough  appre- 
ciation to  select  a  model  of  suitable  type  as  well 
as  to  secure  the  proper  setting  and  attire.  In 
fact,  the  worker  who  essays  genre  must  be  as 
familiar  with  his  subject  as  the  writer  who 
would  avoid  anachronisms;  he  must  know  his 
people,  the  clothes  they  wear,  the  surroundings 
in  which  they  live,  and  the  way  they  act  in 
given  circumstances.  Only  thus  can  he  keep 
from  falling  into  such  absurdities  as  are  seen  in 
the  "  movies,"  where  a  pleasant,  chubby-faced 
youngster  takes  the  part  of  a  Western  "  bad 
man,"  where  cow-punchers  carry  canteens  in 

163 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

well-watered  country,  where  the  sheriff  loses 
the  trail  of  a  horse  and  rider  on  a  dusty  road, 
and  where  (acme  of  carelessness)  the  slamming 
of  a  door  shakes  a  "  stone  "  wall.  There  are 
infinite  details  connected  with  the  simplest  act 
of  our  daily  lives,  and  one  not  familiar  with 
them  can  easily  overlook  some  apparently 
trifling  thing  which,  nevertheless,  will  spoil  the 
effect  so  far  as  those  acquainted  with  the  pro- 
cedure are  concerned. 

Suppose,  for  example,  an  artist  should  show 
a  fisherman  using  a  deep-sea  rod  and  reel  on  a 
trout  stream,  a  photographer  using  a  studio 
camera  to  photograph  an  automobile  race,  or 
an  Indian  portaging  by  means  of  a  tump-line, 
with  the  pack  resting  on  his  shoulders :  the  re- 
sult would  be  absurd  to  one  who  knows  how 
these  things  are  done,  yet  any  one  of  these 
mistakes  might  readily  be  made  by  a  person 
who  had  not  sufficiently  observed,  and  mistakes 
quite  on  a  par  with  these  are  made  by  pho- 
tographers who  think  hard  work  tiresome.  For 
this  reason  it  is  perhaps  best  for  the  photog- 
rapher to  select  his  subjects  from  near  home 
and  to  leave  the  portrayal  of  foreign  lands  to 

164 


GENRE 

0 

those  who  are  familiar  with  them;  he  will  then 
be  acquainted  with  the  customs  of  the  persons 
portrayed,  and  the  models  will  act  their  accus- 
tomed parts  in  life.  The  man  who  travels 
abroad  and  returns  with  snapshots  of  Japanese 
geisha  and  French  laveuses  is  not  showing  us 
genre;  interesting  as  his  prints  may  be,  they  are 
merely  records  of  facts,  and  genre,  like  all  other 
styles  of  art,  must  be  inspired  by  imagination 
and  understanding.  The  Dutch  masters  of 
genre  did  not  travel  afield  for  their  material, 
but  took  what  lay  at  hand,  the  folk  of  the 
Netherlands,  as  they  went  about  their  daily 
affairs  in  home  or  tavern,  furnishing  the  needed 
inspiration.  The  photographer  who  aspires  to 
success  in  this  realm  will  be  well  advised  to  fol- 
low their  example.  Clarence  White  has  done 
this,  and  some  of  his  pictures  of  domestic  genre 
are  both  illuminating  and  valuable  records,  pos- 
sessing as  well  great  sympathy  and  a  high 
measure  of  pictorial  quality,  shown  in  their  ex- 
quisite feeling  for  the  rendering  of  light  and  the 
sensitiveness  of  the  artist  to  the  decorative  value 
of  a  choice  pattern,  Blind  Man's  Buff  (page 
140),  being  an  especially  delightful  example. 

165 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Illustration. — Allied  to  genre  but  of  a  more 
ephemeral  nature  is  illustration,  which  within 
the  past  few  years,  largely  through  the  work  of 
Lejaren  a  Hiller,  has  come  to  take  a  notable 
place  in  the  productions  of  the  camera,  both  for 
the  illustration  of  realistic  fiction  and  for  adver- 
tising illustration.  In  fact  as  an  aid  to  adver- 
tising the  camera  has  possibilities  which  have 
not  yet  been  fully  explored ;  and  the  writer  be- 
lieves that  in  time  photography  will  almost  if 
not  quite  supplant  draughtsmanship  for  this 
purpose,  since  it  can  show  not  only  the  article 
used  but  also  its  application  to  daily  life  in  a 
far  more  convincing  manner  and  with  a  higher 
degree  of  verisimilitude  than  is  possible  with 
drawing.  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to 
note  the  increasing  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of 
advertisers  for  the  soft-focus  lens — an  article 
which  but  a  few  years  ago  was  despised  and 
derided  by  all  but  a  few  advanced  camera 
users.  This  novel  popularity  is  due  partly  to 
the  fact  that  the  general  public  is  beginning  to 
appreciate  the  more  artistic  quality  of  soft 
definition  and  partly  to  the  more  intelligent  use 
of  this  objective,  photographers  now  striving  to 

166 


ILLUSTRATION 

secure  the  pleasing  softness  characteristic  of 
the  normal  human  eye  rather  than  the  excessive 
diffusion  given  by  an  uncorrected  lens  when 
its  possibilities  are  overdone. 

Whatever  may  be  the  result  as  regards  ad- 
vertising illustration,  the  writer  does  not  believe 
that  the  camera  will  ever  take  the  draughts- 
man's place  for  the  illustration  of  imaginative 
literature.  In  the  first  place,  the  difficulties  of 
securing  suitable  settings  are  considerable,  as 
may  be  understood  if  we  consider  the  expense 
and  labor  involved  in  arranging  and  costuming, 
say,  the  "  Morte  d' Arthur,"  and  bear  in  mind 
that  this  is  by  no  means  an  extreme  example  of 
what  would  be  required.  In  the  next  place,  it 
would  be  far  from  easy  to  secure  satisfactory 
models,  unless  the  scene  and  action  were  of  the 
present  time  and  approximately  of  the  location 
of  the  story.  Finally,  the  most  conspicuous  of 
all  the  disadvantages  under  which  photography 
labors  is  its  literalness.  This  power  of  delineat- 
ing with  exactness  what  is  placed  before  it  gives 
the  camera  a  tremendous  advantage  in  adver- 
tising, portraiture  and  many  other  fields,  but 
limits  its  value  sadly  in  the  illustration  of  works 

167 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

of  the  imagination.  It  is  impossible  to  con- 
ceive "  The  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner," 
"  The  Fall  of  the  House  of  Usher,"  "  Paradise 
Lost,"  "The  Culprit  Fay,"  or  the  "Divine 
Comedy "  being  satisfactorily  illustrated  by 
photography.  It  is,  of  course,  true  that  models 
could  be  clothed,  posed  and  photographed  in 
such  fashion  as  to  express  the  outward  and 
visible  features  of  these  works,  but  the  inward 
soul  of  the  story  or  poem  would,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  remain  beyond  the  grasp  of  the  lens  and 
plate.  Prophecy  is  dangerous,  and  it  is  a  risky 
matter  to  dogmatize;  but  the  author's  belief  is 
against  the  complete  replacement  of  drawing 
by  photography  in  illustrative  work.  The  fact 
that  the  illustrations  are  obviously  photographs 
makes  it  at  once  evident  that  they  represent 
actual  persons  and  actual  places,  and  immedi- 
ately the  observer  is  brought  down  from  the 
world  of  fancy  to  that  of  fact.  So,  though  the 
camera  may  do  well  in  illustrating  realistic  fac- 
tion, it  cannot  be  expected  to  succeed  in  visual- 
izing imaginative  work ;  one  cannot  make  a  silk 
purse  out  of  a  sow's  ear. 

In  illustration  the  chief  difficulty  is,  as  might 

168 


THE  PRELUDE 
BY  LAURA  GILPIN 

From  a  Platinum  Print 


ILLUSTRATION 

be  supposed,  to  find  satisfactory  models.  Cos- 
tumes and  backgrounds,  as  well  as  accessories, 
can  be  made  for  the  purpose ;  and  when  one  is 
working  in  any  particular  section  of  the  coun- 
try, with  the  idea  of  illustrating  the  life  of  that 
region,  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  find  persons 
of  the  desired  types,  but  it  is  not  always  so  easy 
to  secure,  in  a  city,  models  capable  of  taking 
the  part  of  actors  in  any  given  story  or  adver- 
tising plan.  Practically  all  the  photographers 
who  do  work  of  this  sort  have  lists  of  models 
with  brief  descriptions  and  photographs  of  the 
individuals,  and  notes  as  to  the  possibilities 
which  they  offer,  such  lists  being  imperative 
if  the  photographer  is  to  be  prepared  to  do 
work  to  order,  since  both  advertising  and  fic- 
tion illustration  are  usually  done  on  a  short 
schedule.  The  writer  has  been  called  upon  to 
turn  out  an  illustration  within  twenty- four 
hours  after  receiving  the  order,  and  in  such 
cases  there  is  no  time  in  which  to  go  looking  for 
suitable  models.  No  less  important  than  a  list 
of  models  is  a  file  of  releases,  that  is,  signed 
statements  by  the  models  giving  permission  for 
the  use  of  their  pictures  for  the  purpose  de- 

169 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

sired ;  as  it  sometimes  happens  that  a  model  will 
enter  suit  for  damages  against  the  photog- 
rapher, and  unless  such  a  release  is  at  hand  the 
illustrator  may  be  put  to  considerable  trouble 
and  expense.  It  is  well  to  have  a  form  release 
drawn  up  by  a  good  lawyer,  and  have  it  signed 
by  all  the  models  used  in  a  given  picture,  this 
being,  in  fact,  a  very  necessary  precaution. 

Evidently,  the  photographer  must  be  famil- 
iar not  only  with  the  physical  appearance  of  the 
models  but  also  with  the  requirements  of  the 
advertiser,  and  this  involves  more  study  than 
might  be  expected,  since  there  are  numerous 
technical  points  to  be  observed  which  would 
ordinarily  escape  notice.  Thus,  in  making  a 
photograph  of,  say,  a  pair  of  shoes,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  select  a  model  with  graceful  feet,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  learn  what  particular  fea- 
tures of  the  shoe  are  to  be  emphasized  and 
what  are  to  be  disguised — whether  to  lay  stress 
on  the  slim  and  graceful  lines  of  a  dress  shoe, 
or  on  the  sturdy  comfort  of  a  walking-boot. 
Advertisers  are  naturally  desirous  of  calling 
attention  to  the  best  features  of  their  prod- 
uct, whether  these  be  the  beauties  of  a  well- 
no 


ILLUSTRATION 

• 

designed  shoe  or  the  ease  of  control  and 
economy  of  an  automobile.  The  writer's  per- 
sonal feeling  is  that  advertising  is  much  over- 
done in  this  country.  To  look  through  the 
advertising  pages  of  the  modern  magazine 
arouses  in  him  the  same  feeling  as  does  an 
encounter  with  a  clerk  or  a  salesman  who  is 
determined  to  force  a  sale — that  is,  a  feeling  of 
resentment  and  a  determination  not  to  buy  the 
article  forced.  He  is  violently  opposed  to  the 
disfigurement  of  our  cities  with  blazing,  wink- 
ing electric  signs  and  of  our  countryside  with 
huge  billboards  insisting  that  the  passer  buy  a 
home  in  Mosquitohurst-by-the-Sea  or  inflict  on 
his  children  the  modern  descendant  of  that 
Pain-Killer  which  Tom  Sawyer  thought  better 
adapted  to  the  feline  than  to  the  human  species ; 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  business  of 
making  photographic  illustrations  for  advertis- 
ing is  a  large,  growing  and  profitable  one,  which 
holds  considerable  financial  rewards  for  the 
photographer  who  will  take  it  up  with  persis- 
tence and  enthusiasm,  conjoined  with  reason- 
able ability. 

The  writer  has  said  that  he  does  not  believe 

171 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

photography  capable  of  supplanting  draughts- 
manship in  the  illustration  of  imaginative  lit- 
erature, but  much  has  been  done  in  the  illustra- 
tion of  realistic  fiction  of  the  present  day. 
Attention  is  called  in  particular  to  the  Illustra- 
tion for  a  Story  (facing  page  28) ,  this  having 
been  made  by  Mr.  Hiller  to  accompany  Joseph 
Hergesheimer's  "Paterfamilias,"  which  ap- 
peared in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post.  A 
great  many  workers,  including  the  writer,  have 
been  convinced  for  years  that  such  achieve- 
ments were  possible;  and,  in  fact,  work  of  this 
sort  had  been  done  in  the  past  by  Clarence 
White,  A.  Radclyffe  Dugmore  and  Karl 
Struss,  who  have  illustrated  books  and  stories. 
Still,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  this  work  has 
been  sporadic  and  local  in  character,  Mr.  Hiller 
being  the  first  to  make  a  commercial  proposi- 
tion of  it  and  to  show  the  energy  and  force 
necessary  to  make  a  business  success  in  this 
direction.  One  of  the  interesting  character- 
istics of  Mr.  Killer's  work  is  his  frequent  use 
of  cross-lighting  to  emphasize  details  that 
would  otherwise  be  hidden  or  to  give  snap  and 
brilliance  to  the  picture.  This  is  an  effect  which 

172 


ILLUSTRATION 

is  most  valuable  if  well  done,  but  it  must  be 
carefully  handled  if  the  picture  is  not  to  break 
up  into  a  heterogeneous  collection  of  unrelated 
spots. 

The  illustration  reproduced  herewith  shows 
admirably  one  feature  of  this  class  of  work 
which  differentiates  it  from  most  others — 
namely,  the  fact  that  such  photographs  are 
primarily  photographs  of  action.  This  does 
not  mean  that  the  action  is  necessarily  violent ; 
it  may  consist  merely  of  an  -  interchange  of 
ideas,  but  there  is  nevertheless  a  very  distinct 
separation  between  such  pictures  and  land- 
scapes or  portraits.  This  fact  necessitates  the 
power  on  the  part  of  the  photographer  of  pro- 
jecting his  personality  into  the  minds  of  the 
actors,  and  it  is  evidently  of  great  importance 
that  the  models  be  capable  not  merely  of  look- 
ing but  also  of  acting  their  parts.  Therefore, 
it  is  desirable  that  some  record  be  kept — by 
photographers  taking  up  this  work  profes- 
sionally— of  the  abilities  of  different  models  in 
this  direction.  In  actual  work  the  writer  al- 
ways explains  to  the  models  beforehand  the 
idea  and  purpose  of  the  picture,  reserving  to 

173 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

himself  the  privilege  of  suggesting  changes  in 
pose  or  expression;  and  this  plan  is  found  to 
work  well,  since  it  relieves  the  photographer  of 
a  certain  amount  of  effort,  stimulates  the 
models  to  a  more  enthusiastic  cooperation,  and 
often  results  in  valuable  suggestions  from  the 
models  themselves,  besides  flattering  their  self- 
esteem  to  some  extent  and  making  them  readier 
to  work  in,  that  particular  studio.  Some  pho- 
tographers prefer  to  direct  the  action  step  by 
step,  calling  for  a  certain  attitude  or  expression 
without  giving  a  reason;  but,  as  in  any  line, 
there  is  a  vast  difference  between  the  worker 
who  is  animated  by  enthusiasm  and  the  one  who 
merely  goes  through  the  motions  for  the  sake 
of  the  money,  and  anything  which  makes  the 
studio  pleasing  to  the  models  is  sure  to  be  re- 
flected in  the  picture.  It  is  of  as  much  im- 
portance in  illustration  as  in  portraiture  to 
work  with  sureness  and  decision,  for  a  model 
is  almost  as  easily  confused  as  a  sitter,  and  any 
nervous  or  jerky  behavior  is  apt  to  be  reflected 
in  the  finished  result,  certainty  of  action  on  the 
photographer's  part  helping  to  secure  ease  on 
the  model's. 

174 


ILLUSTRATION 

Work  of  this  character  is  mostly  done  in  the 
studio,  though  the  photographer  will  sometimes 
find  it  convenient  to  go  out  for  settings.  Still, 
it  is  generally  best  to  depend  on  working  in  one 
definite  place,  and  furniture  or  accessories  can 
be  bought  or  rented,  or  even  constructed  to 
order,  for  a  carpenter  shop  will  be  found  al- 
most a  necessity  if  much  work  is  to  be  done. 
The  writer  prefers  to  use  twin-arc  lamps  for 
illumination,  the  ones  employed  having  a  spec- 
trum closely  approximating  that  of  daylight, 
and  giving  so  intense  a  light  that  with  a  fast 
panchromatic  plate,  a  lens  working  a  F/5.5, 
and  a  fully  correcting  ray-filter,  exposures  of 
one  second  are  possible,  correct  color  values 
being  thus  secured.  It  will  also  be  found  very 
advantageous  to  have  a  spotlight,  or  even  sev- 
eral, so  that  a  strong  illumination  may  be  con- 
centrated on  some  particular  area  if  desired, 
and  a  1000- watt  and  a  500- watt  Mazda  are 
found  to  be  helpful  at  times,  either  in  addition 
to  the  arcs  or  by  themselves.  In  the  studio  an 
eight  by  ten  view  camera  is  ordinarily  used,  and 
for  outside  work  a  four  by  five  Graflex,  the  fin- 
ished prints  being  nearly  always  eight  by  ten. 

175 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Tank  development  of  the  plates  is  invariably 
employed,  and  the  prints  are  almost  always  on 
glossy  paper,  though  in  some  instances  a  differ- 
ent surface  may  be  required  for  some  special 
purpose.  An  automatic  printing-machine  and 
an  enlarging  apparatus  are  almost  imperative. 
It  not  infrequently  happens  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  secure  the  desired  effect  by  straight 
photography,  and  a  knowledge  of  retouching 
and  air-brush  work,  as  well  as  of  the  method  of 
combining  two  or  more  negatives,  will  be  found 
desirable.  The  writer's  own  method  of  com- 
bination printing  is  to  make  a  print  from  each 
negative,  cut  out  with  a  sharp  knife  the  portion 
of  one  which  is  to  be  transferred  to  the  other, 
paste  it  in  place,  and  copy  the  whole,  retouch- 
ing the  junction  on  the  new  negative,  though 
other  workers  prefer  different  methods.  How- 
ever, each  worker,  in  this  as  in  other  lines,  will 
develop  his  own  technic. 


VIII 
ARCHITECTURAL  WORK 

THE  possibilities  of  artistic  expression  are 
more  limited  in  architectural  photography  than 
in  either  landscape  or  portraiture,  for  two  rea- 
sons. In  the  first  place,  the  photographer  is 
more  nearly  restricted  to  straight  photog- 
raphy, it  being,  as  a  rule,  inadvisable  to  take 
great  liberties  with  the  relative  values,  and 
practically  out  of  the  question  to  modify  lines 
and  masses,  as  can  so  frequently  be  done  in 
other  branches  of  graphic  art.  In  other  words, 
photography,  so  far  as  it  is  concerned  with 
architecture,  approaches  more  closely  to  record 
work  than  is  the  case  with  other  types  of  sub- 
ject, and  record  work,  though  valuable  and 
at  times  interesting,  cannot  rise,  to  the  highest 
levels  of  art.  In  the  next  place,  the  portrait 
or  landscape  photographer  is  striving  to  ex- 
press the  forces  of  nature,  whereas  the  one  who 
chooses  architecture  concerns  himself  almost 
altogether  with  the  work  of  men,  and  the  phys- 

12  177 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

ical  manifestations  of  the  efforts  of  human 
beings  are  never  on  so  grand  and  magnificent 
a  scale  as  those  of  the  vast  erogenic  or  ethno- 
genic  forces  that  have  combined  through  past 
ages  to  make  the  world  in  which  we  live.  The 
power  required  to  construct  the  Great  Pyra- 
mid is  infinitesimal  compared  to  that  necessary 
to  lift  a  mountain  chain  from  the  bed  of  the 
ocean,  and  the  forces  operating  to  produce  a 
man  are  infinitely  greater  and  more  complex 
than  those  that  are  responsible  for  the  erection 
of  a  cathedral.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the 
architectural  photographer  has  deliberately 
handicapped  himself  by  the  selection  of  a  small 
— or  relatively  small — subject,  and  the  results 
of  his  efforts  can  never  be  so  impressive  as 
those  secured  where  the  originating  forces  are 
of  a  greater  order  of  magnitude. 

The  architectural  worker,  however,  has  ab- 
solute freedom  in  his  choice  of  subject  within 
the  limits  assumed,  and  can  decide  for  himself 
whether  he  will  labor  to  express  the  ideals  of 
past  civilizations  through  the  magnificent  ruins 
of  Egypt  and  Greece,  the  religious  fervor  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  as  shown  in  the  cathedrals  of 

178 


ARCHITECTURAL  WORK 

Europe,  or  the  rush  and  hurry  of  modern  life 
which  find  expression  in  the  office  buildings  of 
our  great  cities.  On  the  wall  of  the  writer's 
study  hang  two  photographs,  one  showing  the 
peaked  roofs  of  Meissen  (page  178) ,  the  other 
the  Flatiron  Building  (page  190)  its  tall, 
straight,  slim  lines  contrasting  with  the  twisted 
branches  of  the  trees  in  Madison  Square, 
through  which  it  is  seen.  These  two  pictures 
represent  entirely  different  attitudes  of  mind 
on  the  part  of  the  builders,  and  to  that  extent 
are  expressive;  the  one  showing  the  medieval 
mind,  to  which  the  grotesque  appealed  strongly, 
the  other  the  strictly  utilitarian  point  of  view 
characteristic  of  the  great  centers  of  the  New 
World.  Neither  of  them,  however,  can  be  con- 
sidered as  stimulating  as  might  be  the  case  with 
landscape,  nor  is  either  as  fully  illuminating  as, 
say,  a  portrait  by  Frans  Hals  or  Velasquez 
or  a  good  photograph  of  a  modern  business 
man.  Of  course,  there  is  the  advantage  that 
the  old  point  of  view  is  interpreted  for  us  to- 
day through  architecture;  it  would  be  difficult 
to  secure  a  good  photograph  of  a  Dutch  bur- 
gher or  a  Spanish  grandee  of  the  seventeenth 

179 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

century,  and  architecture  is  more  durable  than 
painting.  From  all  this  it  follows  that  an 
architectural  photograph  enjoys  about  the 
same  artistic  status  as  a  copy  of  a  painting— 
a  little  higher,  perhaps,  since  selection  enters 
to  some  extent  into  architectural  photography ; 
but  there  is  no  opportunity  in  either  of  these 
for  original  thought. 

The  writer  is  not  of  those  who  think  ruins 
necessary  to  romance.  A  magnificent  architec- 
tural work  is  far  more  impressive  and  more 
truly  representative  in  its  perfection  than  in  a 
state  of  partial  destruction,  whether  through 
the  action  of  the  elements  or  by  savage  men; 
and  the  artist  is  the  one  who  sees  romance  in  the 
things  of  everyday  life.  Nothing  is  invariably 
and  in  all  circumstances  ugly.  Lower  New 
York  is  as  baldly  utilitarian  as  a  plow;  but,  seen 
from  a  Hudson  River  ferry-boat  in  a  winter 
twilight,  its  tall  buildings  shining  with  reflected 
light  and  its  myriad  windows  aglow,  the  deep 
blue  sky  above  and  the  dark  water  beneath,  it 
becomes  a  veritable  fairyland;  and  though  a 
noon-day  photograph  would  be  utterly  unin- 
teresting— to  an  artist — one  taken  at  the  later 

180 


MEISSEN 

BY  KARL  STRUSS 

From  a  Platinum  Print 


ARCHITECTURAL  WORK 

hour  would  be  as  true  an  interpretation  of  one 
phase  of  New  York,  and  would  at  the  same 
time  be  a  picture  of  rare  beauty.  So  architec- 
tural photography  may  be  considered  as  rec- 
ord work  of  the  highest  order,  the  camera  user 
having  it  in  his  power  to  rise  above  the  banali- 
ties of  the  ordinary  maker  of  record  photo- 
graphs and,  with  genuine  sympathy,  to  select 
the  point  of  view,  the  lighting  and  the  treat- 
ment which  will  best  express  what  he  sees  in  the 
original — the  dreams  and  hopes,  the  aspira- 
tions and  the  reverence,  of  the  men  who  labored 
to  erect  a  monument  to  the  God  of  their  wor- 
ship— whether  the  bloodthirsty  deity  of  the 
savage,  the  Christian  God  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
or,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  the  Mammon  of  the 
twentieth  century — since  the  religious  spirit  of 
to-day  expresses  itself  rather  in  lifting  and 
aiding  its  fellowmen,  and  leaves  to  lower  mo- 
tives the  piling  of  steel  and  stone. 

Since,  then,  sympathetic  architectural  pho- 
tography is  chiefly  a  matter  of  selection,  we 
may  consider  what  aspects  are  most  likely  to 
afford  the  desired  effect,  and  the  first  thing  to 
offer  itself  for  discussion  is  the  question  of 

181 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

lighting.  The  writer  once  heard  of  a  man  who 
was  going  traveling  and  wished  to  keep  records 
of  the  interesting  buildings  to  be  seen.  He, 
therefore,  procured  a  small  camera  and  got  the 
salesman  to  show  him  how  to  use  it — that  is,  to 
load  and  unload  the  roll-holder  and  to  deter- 
mine the  correct  exposure.  After  some  months 
of  travel  he  had  the  films,  several  hundred  in 
number,  developed  and  printed,  and  found 
that  the  results  were  almost  without  exception 
excellent.  A  year  or  two  later  he  again  went 
traveling  and  took  the  camera  along,  but  this 
time  the  prints  proved  practically  worthless— 
technically  good,  but  dull  and  uninteresting. 
On  his  consulting  a  friend,  the  latter  pointed 
out  to  him  that  on  the  first  occasion  he  had  man- 
aged, quite  fortuitously,  to  make  his  exposures 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure  an  impression  of 
relief  in  the  pictures,  whereas  on  the  second 
trip  this  was  lacking,  the  buildings  seeming 
flat,  as  if  cut  out  and  pasted  on  the  background. 
A  little  consideration  will  show  that  the  ap- 
pearance of  solidity  in  a  building — so  far  as  an 
exterior  view  is  concerned  —  will  best  be  ob- 
tained by  choosing  a  standpoint  which  allows 

182 


ARCHITECTURAL  WORK    f 

two  sides  of  the  structure  to  be  seen  in  the  print, 
and  selecting  such  a  quality  and  direction  of 
light  that  the  protuberances  of  the  suface  cast 
shadows  toward  the  camera.  That  is,  if  the 
building  faces  due  south,  the  camera  will  point 
either  northeast  or  northwest  (approximately) 
and  the  exposure  will  be  made,  in  the  former 
case,  about  nine  or  ten  in  the  moning,  and  in  the 
latter  about  two  or  three  in  the  afternoon.  This 
of  course,  is  elementary,  being  on  a  par  with 
the  tricks  of  the  scene  painter.  It  at  least 
serves  to  indicate  that  one  requirement  in 
architectural  work,  more  perhaps  than  in  any 
other  branch  of  photography,  is  a  feeling  of 
solidity,  a  sense  of  three  dimensions.  To  be 
sure,  it  is  not  always  possible  to  choose  the 
angle  of  the  light,  especially  in  working  within 
a  building;  yet,  even  so,  a  great  deal  can  be  ac- 
complished by  proper  attention  to  the  time,  for 
sunlight  falling  through  a  window  will  often 
illuminate  and  vivify  an  interior  marvelously, 
both  directly  and  by  the  light  which  is  reflected 
from  the  floor  on  the  ceiling  and  walls.  It  is, 
therefore,  recommended  that  a  piece  of  archi- 
tecture be  carefully  studied  under  various 

183 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

lights,  and  even  be  photographed  repeatedly 
before  the  final  exposure  is  made,  for  casual 
off-hand  snapshotting  is  no  more  likely  to 
bring  good  results  than  in  landscape  or  por- 
traiture— in  fact,  is  even  less  so,  for  a  landscape 
or  a  portrait  can  sometimes  be  pulled  together 
and  made  into  a  picture  by  judicious  printing, 
whereas  it  is  rare  to  find  this  the  case  with 
architecture. 

A  serious  fault  which  is  far  too  common  in 
this  class  of  work  is  the  use  of  a  lens  of  too  short 
a  focal  length,  due  to  a  desire  to  include  too 
much,  the  result  being  that  perspective  is  ex- 
aggerated and  the  building  appears  excessively 
long.  It  is  not  generally  possible  to  use  a  lens 
of  as  great  a  focal  length  for  architecture  as 
for  landscape  or  portraiture,  but  it  is  far  better 
to  select  such  portions  of  the  subject  as  are  in- 
teresting and  harmonious  and  to  concentrate 
the  attention  on  them  than  to  endeavor  to  in- 
clude the  entire  interior  of  a  cathedral;  a 
doorway  will  often  be  found  to  offer  greater 
artistic  possibilities  than  the  whole  building,  if 
the  inclusion  of  the  latter  requires,  say,  an 
eight-inch  lens  on  an  8  X  10  plate.  In  art  the 

184 


ARCHITECTURAL  WORK   t 

part  is  often  greater  than  the  whole.  If  the 
photographer  can  afford  it  he  will  do  well  to 
carry  several  lenses  of  different  focal  lengths, 
and  the  writer's  choice  for  an  8X10  plate  would 
be  about  twelve  inches,  sixteen  inches,  and  nine- 
teen inches  or  twenty  inches,  though  each 
worker  will  have  to  determine  for  himself  what 
combination  best  suits  his  purposes,  the  selec- 
tion of  lenses  depending  to  some  extent  on  the 
class  of  building  chosen  for  interpretation. 

Whatever  the  focal  lengths  of  the  lenses 
used,  they  should  be  doublets,  since  distortion, 
though  not  likely  to  be  conspicuous  with  a 
twenty-inch  lens  on  an  8X10  plate,  will  be  de- 
cidedly apparent  with  one  of  so  short  a  focal 
length  as  twelve  inches,  especially  if  straight 
lines  come  near  the  edges  of  the  picture.  Of 
course,  the  definition  will  be  more  precise  in 
architectural  work  than  in  landscape  or  por- 
traiture— the  nearer  we  approach  to  record 
work  the  more  exact  the  definition  must  be;  but 
there  is  no  need  of  using  the  unpleasantly  sharp 
drawing  of  the  anastigmat,  so  in  selecting  a 
lens  the  worker  will  do  well  to  choose  one  of  the 
numerous  soft-focus  lenses  available,  though 

185 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

it  will  rarely  be  employed  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  give  the  maximum  diffusion  of  which  it  is 
capable.  Incidentally,  it  may  be  remarked  that 
a  piece  of  apparatus  which  will  be  very  useful 
is  a  pocket  electric  flash-lamp — familiarly 
known  as  a  squirt-lamp — for  in  many  instances 
the  interior  of  a  building  will  be  so  dark  as  to 
render  focussing  difficult,  but  the  lamp  may  be 
placed  wherever  desired  and  may  readily  be 
f  ocussed  on. 

A  fault  which  is  almost  as  common  as  the 
use  of  a  lens  of  too  short  focal  length  is  the 
choice  of  too  high  a  standpoint.  Here,  as  in 
portraiture,  the  photographer  is  apt  to  consider 
his  own  convenience  more  than  the  effect  to  be 
secured,  and  sets  up  the  camera  at  a  height 
which  brings  the  ground  glass  approximately 
opposite  his  eyes,  with  the  result  that  the  floor 
appears  to  slope  upward  in  the  print.  If  an 
exterior  is  being  photographed  this  fault  is  of 
less  importance,  since  the  camera  is  generally 
farther  from  the  subject  than  when  working 
indoors ;  but  in  any  case  it  is  to  be  avoided,  and 
a  viewpoint  somewhat  lower  than  the  photog- 
rapher's eye  is  usually  to  be  preferred,  the  f  ore- 

186 


ARCHITECTURAL  WORK    f 

ground  being  thus  foreshortened  and  a  better 
aspect  secured.  The  same  thing  holds  true  in 
architecture  as  elsewhere — that  a  low  horizon 
line  tends  to  give  a  sense  of  height  and  dignity, 
and  it  is  worth  noting  that  the  effect,  though 
closely  similar,  is  not  the  same  if  the  front  of 
the  camera  be  elevated  as  if  the  whole  instru- 
ment be  lowered. 

The  author  prefers  a  backed  panchromatic 
plate  to  any  other  for  this  class  of  work.  It  is 
almost  imperative  that  the  plate  be  non-hala- 
tion, since  windows  will  often  be  included  in 
the  picture,  and,  though  it  is  possible  to  avoid 
halation  when  using  an  ordinary  plate,  much 
effort  and  trouble  will  be  saved  if  the  plate 
requires  no  especial  attention  to  this  end.  As 
stated  in  the  chapter  on  "  Landscape  Work," 
the  writer's  experience  seems  to  indicate  that 
backing  is  a  more  efficient  preventive  of  hala- 
tion than  double-coating,  but  the  latter  is  never- 
theless very  good.  As  for  the  element  of 
color-sensitiveness,  this  is  almost  as  imperative 
as  freedom  from  halation.  Textiles,  colored 
furniture  and  finishings,  stained-glass  win- 
dows, all  these  and  many  other  uses  of  color 

187 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

are  frequent  in  architecture;  and,  since  in  this 
work  texture  must  be  well  rendered,  a  color- 
sensitive  plate  will  be  required.  An  orthochro- 
matic  emulsion,  when  used  with  a  ray-filter, 
will  often  be  found  satisfactory,  but  if  the  filter 
is  not  used  it  is  practically  no  better  than  a 
blue-sensitive  one,  whereas  the  panchromatic 
shows  some  improvement  without  the  filter,  and 
a  very  decided  one  with  the  filter,  if  red  is 
included.  In  other  words,  the  panchromatic 
emulsion  will  do  all  that  the  orthochromatic  will 
and  more,  and  possesses  no  disadvantages  ex- 
cept that  it  demands  total  darkness  and  time 
development — if,  indeed,  this  characteristic  can 
be  called  disadvantageous. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  the  photographer 
does  not  own  a  lens  which  will  give  the  precise 
effect  desired,  and  in  such  cases  it  will  not  sel- 
dom be  found  useful  to  employ  a  pin-hole  at- 
tachment, this  piece  of  apparatus  having  two 
advantages  and  one  disadvantage,  as  com- 
pared to  the  lens.  In  the  first  place,  a  pin-hole 
is  of  any  focal  length,  thus  being  equivalent  to 
a  battery  of  lenses,  the  only  effect  of  extending 
or  retracting  the  bellows  being  to  change  the 

188 


ARCHITECTURAL  WORK 

size  of  the  image;  the  pin-hole  has  no  focal 
point.  As  a  corollary  to  this,  the  pin-hole  may 
sometimes  be  used  as  an  extreme  wide-angle 
lens,  wider,  in  fact,  than  any  but  a  very  excep- 
tional lens,  should  such  use  seem  desirable. 
The  other  advantage  is  that  the  definition  is 
uniform  throughout  the  entire  image,  depend- 
ing solely  on  the  size  of  the  pin-hole;  whereas 
with  a  soft-focus  lens  stopping  down  not  only 
alters  the  sharpness  but  also  changes  the  qual- 
ity very  materially.  In  fact,  the  soft-focus 
lens,  when  stopped  down  to  secure  depth  of 
field,  is  no  better  than  an  anastigmat ;  but  with 
the  pin-hole  the  quality  is  determined  by  the 
size,  and  is  totally  unaffected  by  other  factors. 
(It  may,  of  course,  happen  that  the  worker 
wishes  to  emphasize  some  plane  at  the  expense 
of  others,  by  focussing  more  sharply  there  than 
elsewhere,  in  which  case  this  advantage  of  the 
pin-hole  becomes  a  defect.)  The  chief  disad- 
vantage of  the  pin-hole  is  its  extreme  slowness, 
the  exposure  required  being  many  times  in  ex- 
cess of  that  required  by  a  lens.  As  an  example, 
a  pin-hole  one-twentieth  of  an  inch  in  diameter 
will  need,  when  ten  inches  from  the  plate,  about 

189 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

six  hundred  and  twenty- five  times  the  exposure 
necessary  with  a  lens  working  at  F/8,  and  in 
many  cases  this  will  be  prohibitive.  Neverthe- 
less, the  pin-hole  will  be  found  useful  at  times, 
though  the  pin-hole  attachments  sold  in  the 
stock-houses  are  seldom  desirable,  the  trouble 
with  them  being  that  the  diameters  of  the  holes 
are  adjusted  so  as  to  give  an  approximation  to 
anastigmatic  definition,  which  is  precisely  what 
the  pictorial  worker  wishes  to  avoid.  The  com- 
mercial pin-holes  range,  as  a  rule,  from  one- 
seventy-fifth  to  one-fiftieth  of  an  inch,  whereas 
the  author  seldom  uses  one  less  than  one-twen- 
tieth of  an  inch  in  diameter.  It  is  also  worthy 
of  note  that,  though  the  instructions  given  for 
making  pin-holes  call  for  great  care  to  see  that 
the  edges  are  clean-cut,  this  is  by  no  means 
necessary  so  far  as  the  artist  is  concerned.  The 
writer  once  in  an  emergency  tore  a  piece  from 
a  card-board  box,  cut  it  to  fit  the  front  of  his 
camera,  pierced  a  hole  in  it  with  a  scarf-pin,  and 
made  an  excellent  negative  with  the  pin-hole 
so  obtained. 

As  regards  the  printing  medium  to  be  used 
for  architectural  photographs,  there  are  two 

190 


ARCHITECTURAL  WORK      f 

which  are  so  preeminently  superior  to  all  others 
as  to  brook  no  comparison,  and  the  choice  de- 
pends on  the  style  of  rendering  desired,  or 
rather  on  the  school  to  which  the  photographer 
belongs.  There  are  two  schools,  the  adherents 
of  the  first  professing  such  reverence  for  the 
work  of  great  architects  that  they  wish  to  ren- 
der the  productions  of  these  men  with  absolute 
fidelity,  though,  of  course,  choosing  in  each 
case  the  most  favorable  aspect.  The  chief  ex- 
ponent of  this  school  is  Frederick  Evans,  whose 
pictures  of  English  and  European  cathedrals 
are  unsurpassed  examples  of  the  class  of  work 
referred  to,  and  the  photographer  who  desires 
to  follow  Evans's  ideas  in  the  matter  of  expres- 
sion cannot  do  better  than  adopt  the  printing 
medium  which  this  noted  worker  has  chosen — 
namely,  platinum;  or,  if  this  is  unobtainable,  a 
matt-surface  bromide. 

The  other  school  prefers  to  select  some  speci- 
men of  architecture  and  translate  it  into  terms 
of  the  photographer's  own  appreciation,  deep- 
ening a  shadow  here,  heightening  a  light  there, 
until  the  result  corresponds  to  the  mental  im- 
pression which  the  artist  has  carried  away,  and 


191 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

the  attention  is  concentrated  on  that  particu- 
lar aspect  of  the  subject  which  seems  to  the 
worker  most  worthy  of  note.  For  this  class 
of  work  oil  (or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing 
so  far  as  the  final  appearance  is  concerned, 
bromoil)  is  to  be  preferred,  since  it  admits  of 
greater  freedom.  However,  oil  may  be  made 
to  give  a  straight  print  exactly  as  well  as  plat- 
inum, and  possesses  other  elements  of  flexibil- 
ity than  those  afforded  by  brush  handling. 
There  is  a  general  impression  —  at  one  time 
shared  by  the  present  writer — to  the  effect  that 
an  oil  print  necessarily  has  a  certain  granular- 
ity of  texture,  and  that  the  process  loses  some 
of  the  finer  gradations  of  the  negative,  but  this 
is  not  the  case.  The  writer  has  seen  oil  and 
bromoil  prints  which  were  as  fine  in  texture  and 
in  their  rendering  of  gradations  as  any  plati- 
num, but  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  the  power 
of  varying  the  surface  texture  of  the  print  by 
the  manner  of  using  the  brush  may  be  a  great 
value,  a  somewhat  loose  texture  serving  to  sug- 
gest the  appearance  of  rough  exterior  wood  or 
stone  in  a  fashion  not  equalled  by  any  other 
printing  process.  It  would  perhaps  be  well  for 

192 


THE  FLATIRON 

BY  PAUL  L.  ANDERSON 

From  a  Carbon  Print 


ARCHITECTURAL  WORK 

the  worker  to  perfect  himself  in  both  mediums, 
unless  he  chooses  to  become  an  absolute  master 
of  oil,  in  which  case  he  will  find  that  fully 
satisfactory. 

As  to  the  study  required  for  success  in  this 
branch  of  photography,  it  evidently  depends 
somewhat  on  the  style  of  expression  chosen. 
One  who  elects  to  work  in  the  manner  of  the 
first  school  should  have  considerable  knowledge 
of  the  principles  on  which  architecture  is  based, 
should  be  in  great  measure  familiar  with  the 
details  of  the  profession,  and  should  possess 
accurate  powers  of  observation,  that  he  may 
be  able  to  recognize  the  factors  which  will  prove 
most  interesting  and  valuable  and  to  record 
them  correctly  and  in  a  pleasing  manner,  in 
respect  of  both  outlines  and  values.  An  ac- 
quaintance with  the  fundamental  principles  of 
composition  and  chiaroscuro  will  be  valuable; 
but  this  knowledge,  which  is  merely  useful  and 
advantageous  to  a  worker  of  the  first  class,  is 
absolutely  imperative  to  the  photographer  of 
the  second  school,  whereas  familiarity  with 
architecture  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  the 
latter,  who  depends  on  visual  impressions  and 

13  193 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

on  artistic  conception  for  his  effects.  The  two 
schools,  therefore,  pursue  lines  of  study  which 
are  largely  at  variance  with  each  other,  and  it 
will  be  apparent  that  the  first  school  represents 
the  sublimation  of  the  record  photographer, 
the  worker  of  the  second  class  being,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  true  artist.  It  is,  however,  the' 
case  that  the  worker,  whichever  school  he  elects 
to  follow,  should  know  something  of  the  general 
history  of  the  period  in  which  the  architectural 
monuments  of  his  interest  originated,  as,  lack- 
ing this  knowledge  and  the  consequent  sym- 
pathy with  the  mental  attitude  of  the  builders, 
he  will  neither  select  nor  interpret  in  a  manner 
of  genuine  appreciation. 


IX 

MARINE  WORK 

MARINE  photography  offers  a  great  possi- 
bilities as  any  branch  of  the  art  of  the  camera, 
for  there  are  few  persons  who  are  insensible 
to  the  strength  and  majesty  of  the  sea  itself, 
and  when  to  this  we  add  the  countless  memories 
of  heroism  that  for  generation  after  generation 
have  been  associated  with  those  "  that  go  down 
to  the  sea  in  ships  "  we  can  hardly  fail  to  stir 
the  heart  of  any  who  has  thought  for  the 
grandeur  of  nature  or  for  the  nobility  of  the 
human  soul.  Further,  there  is  the  beach,  with 
its  weeds  and  other  sea-wrack,  its  "  ribbed  sea- 
sand,"  its  exquisite  curving,  gleaming  water- 
forms,  its  iridescent  foam;  there  are  the  ports 
from  which  sail  fishing- schooners  or  great 
liners,  where  are  to  be  found  weed-grown  piles 
and  swirling  water;  and  there  are  the  dunes, 
with  their  sparse  beach-grass,  wind-swept, 
harsh,  and  lonely  beyond  the  power  of  words 
to  express,  where  the  foot  sinks  ankle-deep  in 
the  shifting  sand — these  all  may  furnish  many 

195 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

a  picture  of  great  and  enduring  loveliness  if 
seen  with  an  artist's  eye,  at  early  morning  or 
late  in  the  afternoon,  under  a  brilliant  sun  or 
partly  veiled  in  shining  mist.  Yet  no  one  need 
think  to  go  out  on  a  pleasant  summer  day  and 
return  with  a  dozen  great  pictures  of  the  sea, 
for  Neptune  is  a  reticent  god,  and  is  not  to  be 
captured  thus.  The  photographer  who  aspires 
to  do  the  best  marine  work  must  be  an  athlete, 
must  rejoice  in  danger  and  hardship,  must  be 
saturated  with  the  romance  and  mystery  of  the 
ocean,  must  know  the  winds  and  the  tides,  and 
must  be  able  (no  mean  feat)  to  distinguish,  with 
his  instrument,  between  the  heave  and  swell 
of  a  lazy  sea,  the  lift  and  dash  of  an  angry  surf, 
the  rush  and  sweep  of  water  over  half-hidden 
rocks,  and  the  slow  curve  and  fall  of  a  breaker. 
Some  years  ago  the  writer  was  called  upon  to 
make  a  series  of  photographs  of  the  sea,  and 
was  favored  by  the  locality  chosen,  by  the 
weather,  and  by  the  help  of  a  friend  who  knows 
intimately  the  moods  of  the  ocean  and  the  times 
and  seasons  for  work.  Two  weeks  were  spent 
in  these  favorable  circumstances,  during  which 
time  three  hundred  negatives  were  made.  Of 

196 


MARINE  WORK 

the  three  hundred,  thirty  were  chosen  for  print- 
ing, and  when  the  prints  were  finished  half  of 
them  were  selected  as  fulfiling  the  require- 
ments. Five  per  cent,  is  not  a  large  propor- 
tion of  successes,  but  the  writer  was  well 
satisfied,  and  feels  that  he  was  exceptionally 
fortunate,  for  one  of  the  best  of  marine  work- 
ers has  said  that  he  himself  prints  hardly  more 
than  one  per  cent,  of  his  plates. 

Generally  speaking,  it  will  be  found  prefer- 
able to  work  along  a  shore  distinguished  by 
rough,  bold,  rocky  headlands,  such  as  are  found 
on  the  coasts  of  Maine  and  of  Cornwall,  for 
here  the  surf  is  broken  by  the  rocks  and  is  more 
apt  to  furnish  striking  effects  than  on  a  smooth 
beach,  and  the  rocks  themselves  often  help  by 
their  inclusion  in  the  picture.  In  fact,  it  is  not 
easy  to  secure  good  marines  unless  something 
besides  sea  and  sky  is  included,  and  unless 
some  of  the  shore  appears  it  will  be  found  ad- 
visable to  make  use  of  figures,  ships,  or  some 
recognizable  object,  the  reason  for  this  lying 
in  the  fact  that  surf  has  no  inherent  scale,  and 
when  photographed  by  itself  may  be  of  any 
size,  so  far  as  appearance  goes.  Of  course,  this 

197 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

lack  of  inherent  scale  may  at  times  be  an  ad- 
vantage: the  writer  has  seen  a  photograph  of 
dashing  surf  in  which  the  water  seems  to  rise 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet  into  the  air,  whereas  the 
actual  rise  was  not  more  than  five  or  six  feet, 
the  exaggerated  appearance  being  due  to  the 
placing  of  the  camera  not  more  than  a  foot 
from  the  ground,  thus  throwing  the  horizon 
line  low  in  the  picture. 

A  truthful  rendering  of  relative  values  in 
the  water  and  the  sky  is  usually  desirable,  but 
it  is  often  well  to  have  the  rocks,  especially  if 
in  the  immediate  foreground,  darker  than  they 
should  properly  be — thus  emphasizing  the 
brilliance  of  the  surf — and  this  state  of  affairs 
may  be  secured  by  having  the  timing  verge  on 
under-exposure,  so  that  the  lighter  portions  of 
the  picture  fall  within  the  straight  part  of  the 
Hurter  and  Driffield  characteristic  curve,  the 
darker  areas  coming  within  the  lower  part  and 
thus  compressing  the  shadow  values.  It  is  also 
possible  to  obtain  this  effect  by  multiple  print- 
ing, gum-platinum  perhaps,  this  not  only  giving 
additional  weight  to  the  darks  but  also  increas- 
ing the  brilliancy  of  the  lights. 

198 


MARINE  WORK  , 

It  is  necessary  to  give  a  sense  of  motion  to 
the  water — to  make  it  appear  to  move — and  this 
is  partly  a  matter  of  composition  and  partly  a 
question  of  timing.  The  exposure  should  be 
made  at  an  instant  when  the  mass  of  water 
is  evidently  in  an  unstable  position — if  such  a 
term  can  be  used  with  regard  to  an  object  which 
is  never  still — and  the  timing  should  be  such 
that  the  water  moves  slightly  but  perceptibly 
while  the  shutter  is  open.  It  is  impossible  to 
state  exactly  what  the  exposure  should  be,  since 
this  depends  on  the  focal  length  of  the  lens  and 
on  the  distance  from  the  surf  to  the  camera, 
but  roughly  speaking  one-twenty-fifth  to  one- 
thirty-fifth  of  a  second  will  secure  the  desired 
blurring  and  avoid  the  appearance  of  arrested 
motion,  so  that  the  picture  will  not  incur  the 
reproach  visited  by  Whistler  on  a  certain  ma- 
rine painting,  when  he  rapped  with  his  knuckles 
on  the  canvas  and  laconically  remarked,  "Tin!" 

The  photographer  who  is  ambitious  of  doing 
good  marines  must  not  have  any  cats  in  his 
ancestry;  he  should  rather  be  descended  from 
a  long  line  of  ducks,  for  it  is  impossible  to 
avoid  getting  wet  at  times.  The  most  favor- 

199 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

able  occasion  for  making  pictures  of  surf  is 
just  after  a  heavy  storm,  and  then  the  sea  is 
apt  to  be  treacherous;  the  photographer  may 
think  himself  well  beyond  reach  of  the  surf, 
but  an  exceptionally  large  wave  may  possibly 
reach  him,  especially  since,  the  best  work  being 
done  from  a  low  view-point,  it  is  impossible  to 
use  a  lens  of  very  great  focal  length.  One 
famous  worker  at  times  uses  a  box  camera  en- 
closed with  water-proof  material  and  anchors 
himself  with  a  rope,  for  he  finds  that  on  more 
than  one  occasion  surf  has  broken  completely 
over  him.  This  is  all  very  well  for  a  small 
surf — though  even  then  a  particularly  rugged 
and  sturdy  strength  is  necessary  to  withstand 
such  treatment — but  in  the  case  of  a  large  sea 
it  would  inevitably  be  fatal;  the  man  never 
lived  who  could  survive  the  force  of  a  really 
powerful  surf — he  would  simply  be  whirled 
into  the  air  and  dashed  against  the  rocks  as 
easily  as  a  feather. 

One  must  be  prepared  to  waste  more  plates 
at  marine  work  than  in  any  other  branch  of 
photography,  for  it  is  impossible  to  predict 
what  the  final  form  of  a  wave  will  be,  and  it  is 

200 


MARINE  WORK 

always  necessary  to  start  the  exposure  a  frac- 
tion of  a  second  before  the  wave  has  reached 
the  desired  form,  to  allow  for  the  nervous  and 
muscular  lag  of  the  individual  and  the  mechan- 
ical lag  of  the  camera.  A  wave  which  does  not 
promise  well  may  turn  out  to  be  just  what  is 
desired  and  one  which  seems  very  promising 
indeed  may  fall  far  short  of  the  ideal;  but  the 
worker  must  photograph  both,  and,  in  all  prob- 
ability, many  others,  for  he  will  continually  hope 
for  one  "  just  a  little  better."  It  is  commonly 
said  that  every  seventh  wave  is  larger  than  the 
intermediate  ones,  but  this  is  by  no  means  true, 
for  the  interval  is  variable  and  indeterminate, 
and  the  best  plan  is  to  watch  the  formation  of 
each  wave  far  out  at  sea,  noting  the  manner  in 
which  it  approaches  and  basing  one's  estimate 
of  its  probable  size  on  its  appearance  at  this 
time.  The  camera  is,  of  course,  placed  in  a 
selected  position — or  approximately  so — and 
the  shutter  is  tripped  slightly  before  the  wave 
reaches  its  proper  pitch,  experience  alone  avail- 
ing to  tell  how  much  allowance  must  be  made, 
for  the  lag  varies  with  different  individuals. 

When  considering  the  preparation  of  this 
201 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

book  the  writer  thought  it  best  to  ask  one  of  our 
ablest  and  best-known  marine  photographers, 
Mr.  Bertrand  H.  Wentworth,  to  give  a  descrip- 
tion of  his  manner  of  approaching  the  problem, 
and  Mr.  Wentworth  very  kindly  did  so.  The 
author  feels  that  he  cannot  do  better  than  quote 
Mr.  Wentworth's  reply  in  full,  since  it  not  only 
gives  many  valuable  suggestions  which  can- 
not fail  to  be  helpful  to  the  student,  but  also 
affords  considerable  insight  into  the  mental 
attitude  of  the  man  who  has  done  finer  marine 
photographs  than  any  other  American  worker 
of  whom  the  writer  knows. 

My  dear  Anderson: 

Before  you  come  to  your  chapter  on  marine  pho- 
tography you  will  doubtless  have  dealt  fully  with  the 
general  problems  of  the  out-of-door  pictorialist.  I 
once  heard  one  of  them  put  the  question,  "  How 
shall  I  know  a  picture  when  I  see  it?  "  One  cannot 
answer  even  so  simple  a  question  as  that  without  en- 
countering the  difficulty  of  accurate  expression  in 
writing  upon  art  and  kindred  subjects  due  to  the  fact 
that  art  has  no  terminology  of  its  own.  My  answer 
to-  that  question  is  that,  when  one  finds  agreeable 

emotions    awakened    by    objects    in    nature,    those 

202 


MARINE  WORK 

objects  contain  for  him  the  possibility  of  a  picture. 
There  I  borrowed  "  emotion  "  from  the  psychologist, 
and  probably  have  a  quarrel  with  him,  but  the  lay- 
man will  understand. 

The  first  qualification  for  the  pictorialist  is,  then, 
sensitiveness  to  beauty,  and  if  he  be  not  gifted  with 
that  he  is  without  hope  of  success.  He  must  further 
recognize  clearly  just  what  objects  or  conditions  in 
nature  give  impulse  to  the  emotion  he  feels,  and  he 
is  doubly  gifted  if  he  has  natural  powers  of  analysis, 
but  these  may  be  acquired.  To  develop  the  applica- 
tion of  these  to  the  problem  of  recognition  of  the 
pictorial,  one  should  begin  with  some  clear  notion 
of  what  beauty  is,  for  when  he  passes  from  the  regis- 
tering of  an  emotion  to  the  recognition  of  its  source 
he  begins  to  deal  with  natural  facts.  To  me  the 
beautiful  is  the  typical,  and  the  first  stage  of  the 
study  of  a  pictorial  subject  is  to  gain  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  the  element  in  it  which  approaches  a  type. 

So  far  the  experienced  and  gifted  worker  goes 
swiftly,  instinctively,  and  unconsciously.  Even  for 
him  the  next  stage  is  often  slower — the  elimination 
of  all  that  is  not  essential  to  the  expression  of  the 
type-beauty  chosen.  To  his  gift  of  sensitiveness  to 
beauty  and  his  talent  for  recognition  of  its  sources 
he  must  add  patience  and  self-restraint.  Rarely 
will  he  find  his  typical  aspects  truest  to  type  at  the 

203 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

time  he  first  responds  to  their  beauty ;  much  of tener 
than  not  he  will  have  to  wait  long  for  the  moment 
when  the  extraneous  matter  may  be  successfully 
eliminated.  His  standards  must  be  so  high  that  he  will 
be  content  to  wait  hours,  days,  months,  or  years  for 
the  final  perfect  result. 

Command  of  his  tools  he  must  acquire,  but  I  rank 
this  third  in  importance ;  and  because  perception  and 
analysis  are  so  much  more  vital  to  his  success,  his 
time  will  be  better  devoted  to  them  than  to  mastery 
of  a  varied  technique — of  technique,  enough  is  better 
than  more.  I  am  speaking  now  of  photographic  tech- 
nique; the  technique  of  pictorial  composition  can 
never  be  studied  enough. 

In  some  such  manner  as  this  I  assume  you  will 
have  covered  the  broader  aspects  of  the  landscape 
pictorialist's  approach  to  his  problems.  The  pecu- 
liar problems  of  the  marine  or  shore  photographer 
arise  from  the  immensity  of  the  spaces,  the  abund- 
ance of  light,  and  the  incessant  motion  of  the  sea. 
All  three  make  elimination  difficult.  Let  us  apply 
this  statement  to  a  concrete  example,  for  instance, 
a  wave  of  moderate  size.  Let  us  suppose  that  we 
have  found  its  beauty  to  lie  in  its  power;  that  this 
power  is  felt  because  the  wave  rises  high  and  reveals 
its  great  weight  as  it  falls  forward.  The  observer's 

mind  is  fully  occupied  with  these  perceptions,   and 

204 


MARINE  WORK 

with  the  foam  patterns  and  the  play  of  light  and 
shade  in  the  white  wave.  These  only  should  have  a 
place  in  the  consciousness  of  the  observer  of  the  pic- 
ture. The  immensity  of  the  spaces  here  obtrudes  in 
a  natural  excess  of  sky  and  in  the  long  sea  line.  The 
excess  of  light  obtrudes  in  making  the  sky  too  white 
in  the  printing  medium  and  the  contrasts  in  too  short 
a  scale  in  the  wave  details.  The  motion  makes  elim- 
ination difficult  because  it  is  extended  to  all  parts  of 
the  foreground  and  middle  distance.  True,  one  feels 
motion  best  if  the  eye  does  not  come  to  rest  before 
the  picture,  but  at  some  point  the  motion  must  be 
great  enough  to  dominate. 

The  solution:  choose  that  moment  in  the  wave 
action  when  its  lines  lead  to  the  point  where  greatest 
power  is  expressed;  use  a  point  of  view  low  enough 
to  break  the  sea  line,  as  much  as  may  be,  by  the  crest 
of  the  wave ;  reduce  the  sky  space  by  raising  the  sea 
line  as  far  as  may  be  without  risking  that  position's 
finding  a  place  in  the  consciousness  of  the  observer 
of  the  picture;  eliminate  your  excesses  of  light  by 
the  use  of  color  screens ;  and  confine  your  picture  to 
its  essential  elements  by  the  use  of  a  long-focus  lens. 
Find  that  combination  of  aperture  and  exposure 
which  will  neither  lose  the  essential  forms  nor  wholly 
arrest  the  motion — usually  about  1/30  of  a  second 
when  the  near  foreground  has  no  violent  motion. 

205 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Another  example.  A  very  bold  cliff  foreground, 
with  a  great  headland  beyond.  Here  the  sea  interest 
must  be  subordinated1,  and  choice  must  be  made 
between  foreground  and  headland  as  a  dominating 
interest.  If  the  foreground  be  chosen,  give  it  ample 
space  and  detail;  leave  little  more  than  suggestion 
of  the  sea,  sky  and  headland.  The  choice  of  the 
foreground  as  the  type-beauty  of  the  picture  is  justi- 
fied only  if  that  type-beauty  was  the  one  which  gave 
the  picture  impulse,  as  it  would  in  a  fog  which  par- 
tially concealed  all  else.  If  the  headland  be  chosen 
it  must  be  for  an  interest  there  that  dominates,  as, 
for  instance,  when  the  foreground  cliff  is  in  afternoon 
shadow  and  late  high-lights  are  on  the  headland. 
Clouds  just  beyond  the  headland  would  help;  sea 
action  would  divide  the  interest — and  so,  a  quiet  sea 
for  such  a  picture. 

The  marine  photographer's  difficulty  of  the  immen- 
sity of  the  spaces  is  ever  present,  and  always  tempt- 
ing himi  to  try  the  impossible.  His  excess  of  light  is 
of  course  most  troublesome  in  midsummer,  when  he 
must  work,  if  at  all  to  advantage,  long  before  break- 
fast and  in  the  very  late  afternoon.  The  fall  months 
at  the  shore  are  best,  as  elsewhere,  for  the  lighting 
problems.  On  the  New  England  coast  they  bring, 
too,  the  most  typical  seas.  Through  the  summer 

there  may  come  occasional  winds  maintaining  their 

206 


EASTERLY  WEATHER 

BY  BERTRAND  H.  WENTWORTH 

From  a  Bromide  Enlargement 


MARINE  WORK 

power  long  enough  in  one  direction  to  build  up  some 
surf,  but  as  a  rule  the  summer  seas  are  simply  glori- 
fications of  the  types  one  finds  on  inland  lakes ;  the 
sailors  call  them  "  deep  chops."  The  forms  are 
broken,  inconsistent,  accidental.  There  are  notable 
exceptions. 

The  great  pictorial  opportunities  come  when  a 
great  storm  passes,  well  out  to  sea.  Then  the  "  organ- 
ized sea  "  of  the  painter's  vocabulary  rolls  in  smooth, 
oily  water,  often  under  clear  skies,  and  rises  incred- 
ibly as  it  approaches  the  shores.  No  one  ever  sees 
the  sky  in  the  presence  of  this  sea's  commanding 
interest,  and  its  space  in  the  picture  can  therefore 
be  reduced  to  the  minimum,  or  lost  altogether  in  the 
white  fog  that  will  very  likely  accompany  such  a 
sea.  The  sea  line  may  then  be  reduced  to  the  merest 
fraction  essential  to  stability. 

But  these  seas  bring  new  problems.  The  low  point 
of  view  is  not  so  easily  maintained  if  one  values  cam- 
era, life  and  limb.  The  whole  sea  picture  becomes 
white  with  the  violence  of  the  action;  the  beautiful 
patterns  of  foam  against  the  green  of  a  curling  wave; 
the  reflections  of  the  breaking  tops  in  the  smooth 
water  ahead  of  them — these  are  lost ;  and  the  new  and 
perhaps  long-wished-for  opportunity  finds  the  worker 
confronted  with  entirely  new  problems  to  which  he 
brings  no  adequate  experience.  I  am  speaking  now 

207 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHS 

of  such  a  grand  sea  as  comes  once  in  a  decade  or 
twenty-five  years. 

The  best  period  for  study  of  an  organized  sea  is 
the  three  hours  including  the  last  two  of  the  coming 
tide  and  the  first  of  the  receding  tide.  All  through 
the  coming  tide  the  wave-action  gains  momentum 
from  the  tidal  action.  This  momentum  carries  the 
type-action  of  the  organized  sea  on  through  the  two- 
hour  period  at  the  top  of  the  tide,  when  the  tidal 
action  is  slight ;  so  that  the  maximum  is  reached  and 
the  most  typical  formis  come  in  the  first  hour  of  the 
ebb-tide.  In  a  grand  sea  period  the  best  pictorial 
opportunities  come  with  its  first  tides,  while  the  sea 
is  still  green.  Later  the  violence  of  the  continued 
action  brings  an  excess  of  foam. 

If  one's  study  is  of  surf  against  outlying  rocks, 
or  shores  and  headlands,  there  are  many  exceptions 
to  the  above  rule  when  applied  to  wave-action.  These 
exceptions  depend  upon  local  conditions,  and  must  be 
discovered  by  patient  observation.  Find  for  each 
subject  as  near  as  may  be  that  moment  of  a  coming 
tide  when  "  an  irresistible  force  meets  an  immovable 
obj  ect  "  with  a  pictorial  result. 

The  critical  moments  in  sea  action  are  so  fleeting 
that  a  reflecting  hand  camera  is  best.  Even  for  them, 
and  always  when  possible,  the  more  deliberate  study 

208 


MARINE  WORK 

with  a  stand  camera  is  desirable.  Orthochromatic 
photography  is  indispensable,  and  screens  should  be 
used  when  light  and  motion  admit.  Anastigmatic 
lenses  have  their  place  in  the  work.  Soft-focus  lenses 
should  be  used  with  discretion,  and  more  for  their 
properties  of  distributing  focus  through  many 
planes  than  for  their  other  qualities. 

One  never  fully  acquires  a  new  language  until 
he  can  think  unconsciously  in  it.  Just  so,  one  never 
fully  knows  his  lenses  until  he  can  see  his  subjects 
quite  unconsciously  in  terms  of  his  lenses.  I  use 
three  types  of  soft-focus  lenses  often,  and  one  anas- 
tigmatic  lens  and!  pin-holes  occasionally.  The  lenses 
give  me  six  different  focal  lengths,  from  8  to  16 
inches,  and  I  usually  apply  them  to  a  4X5  plate.  My 
choice  of  this  size  is  a  compromise  of  many  considera- 
tions. For  a  long  time  I  carried  both  6%X8%  and 
^VlX^l/i'  I  now  think  it  better  to  use  one  size  only, 
and  the  best  reason  is  not  the  saving  of  trouble,  but 
the  reducing  of  the  complexities.  Thinking  of  pictures 
in  the  terms  of  one's  lens  angles  and  properties  is  pos- 
sible only  if  one  limits  their  number.  And  I  think  of  my 
craft  as — not  a  steam-plow  proposition  on  western 
prairies,  but  rather  as  -an  intensive  kind  of  gardening, 
in  which  one's  crop  of  high  success  depends  on  patient 
and  intimate  study  of  subjects  in  a  small  field.  That 

14  209 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

is  why  I  am  content  to  turn  the  same  ground  over 

and  over  again,  here  at  home  and  on  my  little  island. 

Yours  faithfully, 

WENTWORTH. 

Merely  adding  that  Mr.  Wentworth's  prints 
are  all  enlargements  in  relatively  large  sizes, 
we  will,  with  this  discussion  by  a  master  of 
the  craft,  take  leave  of  the  subject  of  marine 
photography. 


X 

MOTION  PICTURE  WORK 

SOME  persons  have  inferred,  from  statements 
made  at  various  times  by  the  author,  that  he 
holds  motion-picture  photography  in  low 
esteem,  but  this  is  by  no  means  the  case;  his 
objection  is  to  the  manner  in  which  the  "  mov- 
ies "  have  been  exploited,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  he  believes  this  work  to  present  great  op- 
portunities for  artistic  expression,  once  it  is 
thoroughly  understood  that  the  screen  drama 
cannot  at  present  replace  that  of  the  stage. 

In  order  that  we  may  attain  to  a  proper 
comprehension  of  the  possibilities  and  limita- 
tions of  motion-picture  photography,  it  will  be 
advisable  first  to  consider  the  art  as  it  exists  to- 
day and  later  to  take  up  the  question  of  what  it 
may  become,  and  we  will  not  touch,  in  this 
discussion,  on  the  scientific  uses  of  the  motion- 
picture  camera.  These  are -many  and  varied, 
and  are  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  investigator 

of  natural  phenomena,  since  they  furnish  a 

211 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

means  of  analyzing  motions  which,  either 
through  their  rate  of  progression  or  through 
their  obscurity,  cannot  be  appreciated  by  the 
eye,  and  of  securing  a  permanent  record  of 
such  motions.  Thus,  it  is  possible,  by  photo- 
graphing rapidly  and  projecting  slowly,  to 
analyze  the  manner  in  which  a  projectile  pene- 
trates armor-plate,  by  reversing  the  process  to 
render  appreciable  the  development  and  un- 
folding of  a  flower,  or,  by  calling  the  X-rays  to 
our  aid,  to  record  in  visible  form  the  peristaltic 
movements  of  the  stomach  during  digestion, 
but  this  phase  of  motion-picture  work  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  art,  and  consequently  lies  out- 
side the  scope  of  the  present  book. 

One  often  hears  astonishment  expressed 
at  the  popularity  of  the  film  drama,  at  the 
numerous  motion-picture  theatres  and  the 
crowds  which  attend  them,  but  this  phenom- 
enon is  by  no  means  a  cause  for  wonderment  to 
one  who  has  even  a  slight  knowledge  of  psy- 
chology. One  of  the  fundamental  require- 
ments of  the  human  system,  as  imperative  as 
the  need  for  food  or  sleep,  is  the  need  for  excite- 
ment. Our  Puritan  ancestors  did  not  appre- 

212 


MOTION-PICTURE  WORK 

ciate  this  fact,  but  looked  on  all  diversion,  how- 
ever harmless  it  might  actually  be,  as  morally 
wrong,  bequeathing  to  us  a  set  of  beliefs  in 
which  this  attitude  figures  largely.  Many  indi- 
viduals satisfy  this  perfectly  normal  and  in- 
stinctive craving  for  excitement  by  means  of 
alcohol  or  other  narcotics,  by  gambling  or  by 
some  other  form  of  vice,  and  such  gratification 
is  unquestionably  immoral,  for,  being  physi- 
cally or  financially  injurious,  it  is  anti-social, 
this  being  what  constitutes  the  impropriety  of 
conduct  which  we  term  immorality.  Others, 
wiser  than  these,  find  the  necessary  excitement 
in  stories  of  adventure,  and  others,  still  wiser, 
in  outdoor  sports,  but  everyone  must  have  it  in 
some  form  or  other  if  physical  and  mental 
health  are  to  be  maintained.  The  writer's 
father  was  accustomed  to  obtain  it  from  chess 
and  from  trout-fishing;  the  writer  himself  se- 
cures it  from  hand-ball,  swimming  and  fiction ; 
a  famous  American  statesman  got  it  from  de- 
tective stories  of  the  dime-novel  class;  and  so 
on.  But  the  cheapest,  most  accessible  and  easi- 
est way  at  the  present  time  is  through  the 
screen  drama,  for  the  producers  of  the  motion- 

213 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

picture  have  deliberately  set  themselves  to  cater 
to  this  omnipresent  craving,  though  it  may  be 
doubted  if  they  have  realized  the  psychic  foun- 
dation for  the  popularity  of  the  type  of  play 
most  in  favor.  It  is  the  fashion  among  a 
certain  aesthetic  (and  perhaps  slightly  over-re- 
fined) class  of  individual  to  decry  the  "  mov- 
ies," as  crude,  raw  and  appealing  to  the  lower 
emotions.  Crude  and  raw  the  vast  majority 
of  photo-plays  are,  full  of  violations  of  truth 
and  unity,  but  they  nevertheless  satisfy  an 
elemental  need.  One  of  the  ablest  physicians 
of  the  writer's  acquaintance  is  an  enthusiastic 
"  movie  fan,"  the  same  is  true  of  another  of 
the  writer's  friends,  a  very  capable  business 
man  and  enthusiastic  student  of  English  liter- 
ature, and  the  writer  himself,  though  contempt- 
uous of  the  careless  inattention  to  detail  and 
the  crudities  of  plot  and  action  characteristic 
of  most  of  the  screen  dramas,  still  sits  on  the 
edge  of  his  chair  when  the  hero  triumphs  over 
the  villain  in  the  last  act,  precisely  as  he 
does  at  a  fast  sparring  bout  or  as  he  leaps  to  his 
feet  and  yells  when,  in  the  ninth  inning,  with 
two  out  and  the  bases  full,  a  pinch  hitter  drives 

214 


MOTION-PICTURE  WORK     * 

the  ball  over  right-field  fence.  No,  the  enthusi- 
asm for  the  "  movies  "  goes  deeper  than  a  mere 
emptiness  of  mind  and  lack  of  mental  resources. 

Two  things  greater  than  all  things  are : 
The  first  is  Love  and  the  second  War, 

and  the  producers  of  photo-plays  realize  this 
fully,  for  they  ring  the  changes  on  these  two 
themes  in  unending  succession. 

There  are  but  few  communities  in  this  coun- 
try which  are  without  a  motion-picture  theatre, 
where  the  best  films  may  be  seen,  and  the  price 
of  admission  is  within  the  reach  of  nearly  every- 
one. Many  persons  will  go  to  see  a  motion- 
picture  play  for  fifteen  or  twenty-five  cents 
who  would  hesitate  long  before  spending  two 
dollars  for  theatre  tickets,  and  there  are  many 
so  situated  as  to  be  unable  to  get  to  a  real 
theatre.  For  example,  the  writer  spends  his 
summers  in  a  small  town,  a  hundred  miles  or 
so  from  the  nearest  theatre  of  importance ;  the 
inhabitants  are  farmers  or  small  merchants, 
and  few  of  them  get  to  the  city  once  a  year,  or 
have  more  than  a  few  dollars  to  spend  when 
they  do.  There  is,  however,  a  motion-picture 

215 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

theatre,  where  films  are  shown  three  times  a 
week,  and  the  films  are  those  which  are  shown 
in  the  large  cities,  so  that  these  farmers,  who 
have  literally  no  opportunity  to  familiarize 
themselves  with  the  stage,  are  nevertheless  on 
the  same  plane  as  city  dwellers  so  far  as  mo- 
tion-picture plays  are  concerned.  In  such 
cases  the  cinematograph  is  absolutely  a  God- 
send, for  no  one  who  has  not  experienced  it  can 
have  any  conception  of  the  utter  monotony  of 
the  New  England  farmer's  life.  Here,  then, 
we  have  the  basic  cause  for  the  popularity  of 
the  motion-picture  play :  it  is  cheap,  it  is  readily 
accessible,  and  it  satisfies  a  normal  human 
instinct. 

We  may  now  take  up  the  failings  and  short- 
comings of  the  producers.  It  will  be  found  that 
most  of  the  proximate  faults  of  the  photo-plays 
— excluding  the  one  tremendous  failing,  the 
lack  of  the  spoken  word — are  due  to  excessive 
popularity.  In  the  mad  scramble  to  put  out 
films  everyone  who  has  even  the  remotest  con- 
ception of  dramatic  situations  perpetrates 
scenarios;  and  everyone  with  a  mobile  coun- 
tenance, athletic  ability  or  attractively  curly 

216 


MOTION-PICTURE  WORK  . 

hair  can  obtain  a  salary  greater  than  he  could 
secure  in  other  walks  of  life,  to  say  nothing  of 
tickling  his  vanity  through  the  reproduction  of 
his  photograph  or  the  adoration  of  his  admirers, 
and  of  securing  an  altogether  abnormal  amount 
of  excitement  in  the  course  of  acting.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  be  crude  in  order  to  stir  the  deep 
emotions ;  no  more  exquisite  love  scene  is  to  be 
found  in  all  literature  than  the  one  in  Act  II  of 
"  Romeo  and  Juliet,"  nor  does  there  exist  a 
more  tense  and  thrilling  dramatic  situation 
than  the  one  which  culminates  in  the  words : 

As  I  did  stand  my  watch  upon  the  hill, 

I  look'd  toward  Birnam,  and  anon,  methought, 

The  wood  began  to  move. 

But  not  everyone  among  the  play-wrights  is  a 
Shakespeare,  nor  are  the  actors  and  actresses 
of  the  screen  willing  to  undergo  the  long  and 
arduous  apprenticeship  which  alone  can  make 
a  great  actor — why  work  hard  for  years  when 
one  can  achieve  fame  and  fortune  by  means  of 
"  stunts,"  or,  more  simply  yet,  through  the 
medium  of  custard  pie?  So  we  have  crudi- 
ties of  plot  and  action,  details  not  true  to  life, 

217 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

false  and  unnatural  cross-lightings  (the  writer 
has  seen  an  actor's  face  in  an  out-door  scene 
with  two  sets  of  high-lights,  and  the  catch- 
lights  in  the  eyes  came  from — of  all  things  in 
the  world — foot-lights!),  floods  of  light  which 
destroy  modeling,  and  variations  of  lighting  in 
the  same  scene.  Some  make-up  being  thought 
necessary  (it  would  not  be,  if  proper  attention 
were  paid  to  the  purely  photographic  work), 
the  actors  and  actresses  overdo  it  until  we  have 
ingenues  whose  eyes  suggest  a  nephritic  condi- 
tion and  villains  who  are  the  counterpart  of  him 
of  the  "  ten-twenty-thirty-cent "  stock  com- 
panies— Desperate  Desmond  is  familiar  to  all 
frequenters  of  "  movie  "  theatres.  But  worst 
of  all  is  the  "  vampire  " ;  when  she  gets  her  war- 
paint on  she  could  by  no  means  seduce  anyone 
not  in  an  advanced  stage  of  chronic  alcoholism. 
Then,  too,  being  deprived  of  the  spoken  word, 
the  actors  must  get  their  emotions  across  purely 
by  gesture  and  expression,  so  we  have  passions 
torn  to  tatters,  frantic  wind-mill  gyrations  of 
arms  and  legs,  and  facial  contortions  strongly 
suggestive  of  "  pink  alligators  with  gasoline 
eyes."  And  the  comedy!  Necessarily,  pan- 

218 


A  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW 
From  a  Bromoil  Enlargement 


MOTION-PICTURE  WORK  . 

tomimic  comedy  is  buffoonery  —  if  anyone 
doubts  this,  let  him  try  to  imagine  "  She  Stoops 
to  Conquer  "  or  "  The  School  for  Scandal  "  on 
the  screen — and  there  are  probably  not  half  a 
dozen  really  funny  buffoons  in  the  world,  so 
screen  comedy  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  be- 
longs to  the  ash-can-and-custard-pie  school  of 
art.  Altogether,  the  "  movie  "  drama  of  the 
present  day  is  a  rather  distressing  mess,  and  on 
the  rare  occasions  when  one  finds  a  play  which 
is  well  written,  well  directed,  well  acted  and 
well  photographed  one  experiences  a  tremen- 
dous feeling  of  gratification.  Charles  Van 
Loan  tells  of  a  director  who  had  one  of  his 
actors  lie  down  in  a  snowstorm  for  several  hours 
because  the  'script  called  for  him  to  be  buried 
in  the  snow.  The  actor  remonstrated: 

"  I'll  freeze  to  death,"  said  he.  "  Why  can't 
you  let  me  lie  down  and  you  have  the  snow  piled 
on  top  of  me?  " 

"  It  wouldn't  look  right,"  answered  the 
director. 

"Not  one  man  in  ten  thousand  would  ever 
know  the  difference." 

"  Maybe  not,"  said  the  director,  "  but  I'm 

219 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

working  for  the  ten-thousandth  man."  This 
story  may  or  may  not  be  true,  but  would  that 
we  had  more  directors  like  this  one! 

It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  in  regard 
to  the  quality  of  the  acting,  the  motion-picture 
is  steadily,  if  slowly,  improving.  The  writer 
has  seen  several  photoplays  in  which  the  actors 
behaved  almost  in  a  natural  fashion,  and  it 
seems  not  improbable  that  at  some  future  time 
the  gestures  and  facial  expressions  may  be  no 
more  violent  than  is  necessary  to  convey  the 
desired  emotion. 

Another  serious  fault  in  many  photo-plays  is 
that  the  action  is  run  off  too  rapidly.  This  does 
not  refer  to  the  relatively  unimportant  —  but 
nevertheless  somewhat  irritating — mistake  of 
allowing  the  actors  to  move  with  such  speed 
that  the  camera  cannot  fully  register  their  mo- 
tion and  the  figures  become  blurred,  but  to  the 
greater  error  of  crowding  too  extensive  a  drama 
into  too  short  a  time,  so  that  the  action  becomes 
confused  and  the  spectators  cannot  completely 
follow  it,  or  can  do  so  only  through  an  exces- 
sive effort  of  concentration.  It  is  perhaps  a 

natural  mistake,  when  we  consider  that  the 

220 


MOTION-PICTURE  WORK  . 

whole  play,  the  inception,  rise  and  climax,  must 
take  place  within  half  an  hour  or  an  hour,  in- 
stead of  the  hour  and  a  half  or  two  hours 
allowed  on  the  stage — but  must  it  really  do  so? 
Is  it  in  truth  necessary  to  hurry  the  actors 
through  their  parts  so  fast  that  the  audience 
cannot  fully  grasp  what  is  taking  place — can 
catch  only  the  high  spots,  so  to  speak?    Evi- 
dently, if  two  plays  can  be  run  off  in  an  eve- 
ning, the  theatre  can  be  filled  twice ;  but  would 
it  not  be  better  to  proceed  in  a  more  natural 
fashion,  allow  the  audience  time  to  follow,  in 
a  contemplative  or  receptive  manner,  the  prog- 
ress of  the  drama,  and  so  leave  a  better,  because 
deeper,  impression?     The  writer  has  seen  a 
photo-play  advertised  in  these  words:  "  Screen 
time  one  hour  and  forty  minutes  " ;  and  he 
would  far  rather  see  a  play  in  which  the  actors 
walked  through  their  parts  than  one  in  which 
they  pranced  through.    Of  course,  rapid  action 
must   proceed  rapidly — men   do   not   lounge 
through  a  fight — but,  on  the  other  hand,  lovers 
in  real  life  do  not  gallop  into  each  other's  arms, 
nor  does  a  man  fighting  his  way  into  the  teeth 

of   a   storm   walk   at   eight   miles   an   hour. 

221 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

"  Gently,  my  boy,  gently!  Don't  frighten  the 
lady!  Approach  her  more  in  the  manner  of  a 
well-fed  house  cat  approaching  a  casual  bowl 
of  cream,  rather  than  like  a  hungry  dog  pounc- 
ing upon  a  bone !  " 

To  sum  it  up,  then,  the  screen  drama  is  suf- 
fering from  an  excess  of  popularity,  and  the 
best  that  we  can  hope  for  is  the  gradual  rise 
of  a  popular  demand  for  better  things,  a  de- 
mand which  cannot  possibly  fail  to  produce  a 
salutary  effect. 

Turning  now  to  the  brighter  side  of  the  pic- 
ture, let  us  consider  what  the  possibilities  of 
this  mode  of  artistic  expression  may  be.  We 
find  at  the  very  outset  that  its  analysis  is  by  no 
means  easily  formulated,  for  the  art  is  of  such 
recent  development  that  no  one  has  yet  fully 
explored  it. 

The  most  conspicuous  difference  between 
motion-picture  photography  and  the  ordinary 
kind  is  that  in  the  former  objects  which  were  in 
motion  at  the  time  of  photographing  seem,  in 
the  finished  picture,  to  move.  This  may  ap- 
pear so  obvious  as  not  to  deserve  mention,  but 
it  is,  in  reality,  of  far  greater  importance  than 

222 


MOTION-PICTURE  WORK. 

most  persons  realize,  for  one  of  the  principal 
limitations  against  which  the  graphic  artist  is 
obliged  to  struggle  is  his  inability  to  depict  mo- 
tion, and  the  consequent  necessity  he  labors 
under  of  endeavoring  to  suggest  it.  Trees 
bending  and  springing  in  the  wind,  surf  beat- 
ing on  the  rocks,  clouds  drifting  across  the 
sky,  figures  walking,  running  and  performing 
other  acts — these  all  aid  in  building  up  an  illu- 
sion of  reality  and  so  making  us  sensible  of 
nature's  impressiveness,  and  these  can  be 
shown  by  means  of  the  motion-picture.  Size, 
stereoscopic  effect,  and  motion  are  the  three 
principal  factors  which  operate  to  make  the 
original  more  impressive  than  the  pictured  rep- 
resentation, and  of  these  three  the  last  two 
are  more  within  the  power  of  the  cinemato- 
graph to  show  than  is  the  case  with  any  other 
graphic  medium.  Since,  then,  two  of  the  chief 
limitations  of  graphic  art  are  removed  by  the 
very  essence  of  the  medium,  it  follows  that  the 
artist  is  free  to  concentrate  his  attention  on 
other  matters  and  to  follow  out  larger  ideas 
than  when  working  with  other  processes.  An 
added  power  is  placed  at  his  command;  and 


223 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

though  he  loses  one  quality  of  still  photography 
— namely,  the  aesthetic  value  of  superficial 
print  texture — this  loss  is  more  than  compen- 
sated by  the  accompanying  gain.  It  has  been 
said  that  a  stereoscopic  effect  may  be  better 
secured  in  motion-picture  work  than  in  still 
art,  and  this  seems  to  arise  from  the  fact  that 
the  figures  move  within  the  setting  and  in  rela- 
tion to  their  surroundings,  individuals  passing 
in  front  of  and  behind  objects  and  other  fig- 
ures, and  growing  or  diminishing  in  size  as  they 
approach  or  recede  from  the  camera.  Of 
course,  much  of  the  stereoscopic  effect  in  cine- 
matography depends  on  trick-work  with  the 
lighting,  but  this  portion  is  quite  within  the 
grasp  of  the  still  photographer;  the  other  part 
is  not.  From  this  stereoscopic  effect  there  re- 
sults a  feeling  of  depth  and  enveloppe  which  it 
is  impossible  to  secure  in  an  ordinary  photo- 
graph and  which  goes  far  to  aid  in  producing 
an  illusion  of  reality. 

Another  factor  of  importance  is  the  greater 
brilliance  of  the  image  obtainable  in  motion- 
picture  work  over  that  possible  in  a  print.  One 
of  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  natural 

224 


MOTION-PICTURE  WORK 

lighting  is  the  tremendous  brilliance  of  the 
scene — a  brilliance  so  great  that  the  deepest 
shadow  of  a  landscape  may  actually,  as  has 
been  said  elsewhere,  reflect  a  far  greater 
amount  of  light  than  the  highest  light  of  a 
photograph  of  the  scene.  A  print  must  be 
viewed  by  reflected  light,  and  the  support 
itself  absorbs  a  considerable  percentage  of  the 
light  falling  on  the  picture,  but  motion-pictures 
are  seen  by  transmitted  light,  so  can  be  inher- 
ently more  brilliant  than  any  print,  thus  ap- 
proaching more  closely  to  the  natural  aspect  of 
the  scene,  though  still  falling  short  of  actual 
fact.  Then,  too,  motion-pictures  are  viewed 
in  a  darkened  room,  with  the  two-fold  effect 
that  the  lights  of  the  picture  gain  brilliance  by 
contrast  with  the  dark  surroundings  and  that 
the  pupil  of  the  observer's  eye  dilates  in  re- 
sponse to  the  darkness,  thus  causing  still  fur- 
ther gain  in  apparent  luminosity  of  the  screen 
image.  This  brilliance,  it  is  true,  is  secured  in 
lantern-slides,  but  these  do  not  form  a  very 
popular  phase  of  photography,  and  lack  many 
of  the  advantages  of  prints. 

The  writer  has  already  explained  that  he  is 

15  225 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

very  far  from  agreeing  with  Ruskin's  dictum 
that  no  picture  can  be  truly  great  unless  it  con- 
tains human  figures  or  some  suggestion  of  hu- 
manity, but  he  does  feel  that  of  all  the  subjects 
fully  within  the  grasp  of  the  graphic  artist  man 
is  the  most  impressive.  The  grandeur  of  na- 
ture is  in  most  instances  beyond  the  power  of 
the  artist  to  express,  depending,  as  it  does, 
largely  on  magnitude ;  but  the  grandeur  of 
humanity  depends,  not  on  a  gigantic  scale  of 
action,  but  on  the  majesty  of  the  soul  as  seen 
in  its  outward  manifestations,  and  this  can  be 
seized  and  represented  by  the  artist.  Since  the 
human  being  is  the  most  freely  mobile  of  all  of 
nature's  grander  manifestations,  and  since  he 
is  the  only  one  in  which  grandeur  is  expressed 
on  a  scale  comparable  to  the  scale  of  represen- 
tation, it  follows  that  human  acts  and  emotions 
are  peculiarly  adapted  to  motion-picture  work 
of  the  higher  sort,  and  that  their  representa- 
tion properly  forms  the  subject  of  the  motion- 
picture  artist  who  aims  at  the  finest  possible 
results. 

The  writer  and  the  actor  of  motion-picture 
dramas  are  necessarily  restricted  to  the  delinea- 

226 


MOTION-PICTURJE  WORK 

tion  of  such  emotions  as  can  be  conveyed 
through  gesture  and  facial  expression,  aided  by 
brief  explanatory  sub-titles  which  can  be  read 
in  a  few  seconds,  with  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence that  only  the  more  objective  and  ele- 
mental emotions  can  be  shown  on  the  screen. 
Abstract  ideas  are  quite  beyond  the  power  of 
the  "  movies,"  but  such  emotions  and  sensations 
as  hunger,  fatigue,  fear,  love,  anger,  hate,  jeal- 
ousy, sorrow,  joy  and  the  like,  are  quite  readily 
conveyed,  and  this  fact  explains  the  prevalence 
of  melodrama  among  photo-plays,  for  what  we 
call  melodrama  deals  fundamentally  with  the 
more  primitive  emotions.  A  limit  is  thus  fixed 
beyond  which  the  motion-picture  artist  may  not 
go  until  the  day  when  science  gives  us  a  per- 
fectly modulated  and  perfectly  synchronized 
combination  of  motion-picture  and  phono- 
graph, when  the  "  movies  "  will  not  merely 
equal  but  will  actually  surpass  the  drama  of 
the  stage. 

There  are  two  circumstances  which  favor  the 
motion-picture  worker  above  the  dramatist  and 
producer  who  make  use  of  the  stage,  and  it  is 
these  which  will,  in  combination  with  a  sound- 

227 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

reproducing  mechanism,  eventually  lift  the 
cinematograph  play  to  the  high  station  fore- 
told. The  first  (not  altogether  inherent  in 
motion-picture  work  but  depending  partly  on 
the  popularity  of  the  screen  drama,  with  the 
consequent  large  sums  invested  in  the  business 
of  production)  is  the  possibility  of  employing 
more  spacious  settings  and  a  larger  group  of 
actors :  a  crowd  may  be  a  real  crowd,  not  merely 
half  a  dozen  supers  crying  "  Hurrah  "  in  dif- 
ferent voices;  an  army  may  be  a  real  army; 
supers  may  be  chosen  because  they  represent 
the  desired  types;  and  so  on.  In  a  measure 
related  to  this  is  the  other  circumstance:  the 
setting  may  be  the  one  actually  designated  by 
the  play-wright,  for  the  action  needs  to  be  run 
through  but  once,  and  settings  are  available 
which  would  be  impossible  on  the  stage.  A 
scene  in  a  lumber  camp  may  be  staged  in  the 
woods,  one  in  a  railway  station  may  be  photo- 
graphed in  a  railway  station,  and  action  sup- 
posed to  take  place  at  the  seashore  may  be 
played  at  the  shore.  From  this  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  advantages  as  well  as  the  limitations 
of  the  motion-picture  drama  tend  to  force  the 

228 


MOTION-PICTURE  WORK- 

action  into  the  realm  of  the  objective,  for  it  is 
not  in  human  nature  to  restrict  oneself  volun- 
tarily. Scenery  is  not  necessary  when  abstract 
ideas  are  dealt  with,  and  the  most  lofty  and 
magnificent  subjective  dramas  the  world  has 
ever  seen  —  the  old  Greek  tragedies  —  were 
enacted  on  a  stage  bare  even  to  emptiness.  It 
may  be  doubted  if  they  would  have  gained  by 
the  use  of  scenery ;  in  fact,  it  is  practically  cer- 
tain that  they  would  have  lost;  and  the  Eliza- 
bethan scenery — a  notice-board  with  the  words, 
"  This  is  a  Wood,"  "  This  is  a  Palace  "-^was 
ample  for  the  stupendous  play  of  human  emo- 
tions found  in  Shakespeare's  tragedies.  We 
cannot,  however,  expect  anyone  to  discard  the 
aid  given  him  by  his  medium,  nor  can  any  but 
the  most  highly  gifted  and  well-trained  artist 
distinguish  the  point  at  which  adventitious  aid 
ceases  to  help  and  becomes  a  hindrance.  When 
the  inclusion  of  scenery  is  carried  too  far  the 
attention  of  the  spectators  is  distracted  from 
the  finer  shades  of  expression,  only  the  more 
obvious  phases  are  perceived,  and  the  plane  of 
the  whole  drama  falls  from  the  subjective  to  the 
objective;  so  it  is  evidently  incumbent  upon 

229 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

the  producer  to  see  that  the  setting  does  not 
detract  from  the  play.  However,  there  is  but 
little  danger  of  such  a  result  in  the  case  of 
dramas  of  action. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  mo- 
tion-picture camera  is  one  of  the  strongest 
mediums  of  artistic  expression  available  to-day, 
and  that  the  greed  of  the  producers  has  so  far 
prevented  it  from  accomplishing  all  that  it 
might  have  achieved.  "  Why,"  they  argue, 
"  should  we  spend  money  and  time  producing 
works  of  art  when  we  can  crowd  the  theatres 
with  what  we  are  now  putting  out?  People 
don't  want  to  see  art;  they  want  thrills."  This 
is  a  fallacious  argument:  true  art  may  be  as 
thrilling  as  poorer  stuff,  and  the  public  will  go 
to  see  the  best  that  can  be  obtained — will,  in- 
deed, prefer  it  to  the  crude  and  raw  product, 
provided  only  that  the  fundamental  and  essen- 
tial human  appeal  be  kept  intact.  It  is  no 
more  than  fair  to  admit  that  the  enterprise  of 
the  producers  has  paved  the  way  for  the  later 
adventurers,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  fine  and 
lofty  drama  will  crowd  the  houses  as  surely  as 
blood-and-thunder  plays  or  the  lascivious  ap- 

230 


SYCAMORES 

From  a  Bromoil  Enlargei 


MOTION-PICTUKE  WORK 

peal  of  semi-nudity.  The  American  public  will 
pay  for  the  best  that  it  can  get,  in  drama  as  in 
other  things.  Sooner  or  later  a  producer  will 
arise  who  will  strive  for  the  best  that  can  be 
secured,  and  when  that  day  comes  we  shall  see 
motion-picture  plays  to  which  those  of  the 
present  will  be  as  night  to  day  or  as  dross  to 
thrice-refined  gold. 


XI 
PORTRAITURE 

THE  fundamental  purpose  of  portraiture  is 
to  furnish  a  complete  and  satisfactory  likeness 
of  the  sitter.  This  may  seem  a  platitude,  but 
it  is  worth  emphasizing,  since  it  is  too  often  for- 
gotten in  the  photographic  world,  both  by  the 
professional,  who  is  apt  to  regard  an  accurate 
map  of  the  features  as  constituting  the  end  and 
aim  of  his  work,  and  by  the  advanced  amateur, 
who  in  his  enthusiasm  for  pictorial  effect  fre- 
quently ignores  all  other  considerations  and  so 
neglect  or  fails  to  secure  a  likeness.  The  author 
has  no  hesitation  in  saying  that,  when  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  case  prevent  attaining  both  a 
picture  and  a  likeness,  the  former  should  un- 
questionably be  discarded,  but  it  must  not, 
therefore,  be  supposed  that  he  is  necessarily 
content  with  a  mere  record  of  fact.  When  the 
sitter  pays  for  a  likeness  he  is  entitled  to  receive 
one,  and  to  attempt  to  foist  upon  him  some- 
thing else — however  beautiful  it  may  be — is  to 

232 


PORTRAITURE  f 

question  his  judgment  and  to  ignore  his  rights, 
but  this  is  not  to  say  that  the  photographer 
should  be  content  to  give  him  merely  what  he 
asks.  It  is  the  function  and  privilege  of  the 
artist  to  labor  in  the  effort  to  elevate  the  popu- 
lar taste  and  to  educate  the  public  in  appreci- 
ation of  the  finer  things  of  life,  and  no  true 
artist  ever  yet  hesitated  to  give  more  than  he 
was  paid  for;  in  fact,  a  sincere  and  genuine  en- 
thusiast in  any  line  will  invariably  give  the 
best  that  is  in  him,  regardless  of  the  financial 
reward. 

With  the  amateur  the  case  is  somewhat  dif- 
ferent, for,  since  he  is  not  paid  for  his  work,  he 
is  under  no  obligation  to  consider  the  sitter's 
preferences,  and  is  free  to  work  with  any  end 
in  view.  However,  even  here  the  result  cannot 
be  called  a  portrait  unless  the  requirement  of 
resemblance  is  fulfiled,  and  some  other  title 
must  be  chosen.  The  author  would  here  digress 
from  the  topic  in  order  to  deplore  the  custom, 
so  prevalent  among  photographers,  of  exhib- 
iting pictures  under  the  title  "  Study."  Every 
artist  makes  studies,  and  the  effects  secured  in 
so  doing  are  often  very  charming,  but  the  genu- 

233 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

ine  artist  seldom  or  never  exhibits  them,  prefer- 
ring to  apply  the  knowledge  thus  obtained  to 
the  construction  of  a  complete  and  fully  organ- 
ized picture.  The  photographer  who  uses  the 
name  "  Study  "  for  an  exhibition  print  lays 
himself  open  to  the  suspicion  of  having  merely 
photographed  some  interesting  effect  of  light 
or  line  and  of  not  being  frank  enough  to  show 
it  as  such,  or  of  being  too  lacking  in  imagina- 
tion to  select  a  suitable  title  and  too  indolent 
to  work  the  effect  into  a  finished  picture. 

The  true  portrait,  then,  should  present  a 
complete  and  satisfactory  representation  of  the 
contours  and  gradations  of  the  face;  it  should 
be  as  fully  descriptive  as  possible  of  the  sitter's 
character;  and  it  should  be  a  picture  of  such 
nature  as  to  be  artistically  pleasing  to  one  who 
is  unacquainted  with  the  original.  The  first 
desideratum  is  obtained  by  the  use  of  a  suitable 
lens — one  which  renders  the  outlines  neither 
wire-sharp  nor  excessively  vague  and  is  of 
proper  focal  length — and  by  the  correct  ren- 
dering of  values;  the  second  by  proper  atten- 
tion to  posing,  expression,  accessories  and 
lighting;  and  the  third  by  care  in  the  composi- 

234 


PORTRAITURE 

tion  of  line  and  mass,  by  suitable  adjustment  of 
chiaroscuro,  and  by  proper  choice  and  manipu- 
lation of  the  printing  medium.  This  division 
is,  of  course,  not  absolutely  precise,  for  the 
selection  of  scale  and  key  influences  all  three 
elements,  and  there  are  other  modifying  fac- 
tors; but,  broadly  speaking,  it  will  be  found 
very  satisfactory. 

Since  one  of  the  portrait-worker's  chief  aims 
should  be  to  express  the  sitter's  character  (in- 
deed, it  is  possible  to  produce  a  thoroughly 
recognizable  portrait  of  an  individual  without 
showing  the  face  at  all)  it  may  be  well  to  con- 
sider the  basis  of  this  element.  It  is  a  fairly 
well-known  fact  that  we  recognize  our  ac- 
quaintances as  much  by  pose  and  manner  as  by 
features,  for  these  last  become  indistinguish- 
able at  a  slight  distance,  whereas  we  can  often 
name  a  person  approaching  long  before  his  face 
has  become  more  than  a  blur.  Profession,  mode 
of  life,  and  habits  of  thought  all  leave  their 
stamp  on  the  individual's  features  and  carriage, 
and  the  writer  has  produced  more  than  one  por- 
trait of  which  people  who  do  not  know  the  sitter 
say  at  once:  "  That  man  is  a  doctor,"  or,  "  He 

235 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

is  an  artist/'  and  this  without  introducing  any 
of  the  characteristic  surroundings  of  the  sitter's 
profession,  but  merely  by  due  attention  to 
facial  expression  and  pose  of  the  body,  head 
and  hands.  Ask  a  painter  who  is  noted  for  his 
rendering  of  character  how  he  attains  his  re- 
sults, and  the  reply  will  probably  be:  "  I  paint 
what  I  see  ";  but  it  may  be  doubted  if  this  is 
quite  exact,  or,  rather,  quite  complete.  He 
undoubtedly  paints  what  he  sees,  but  his  appre- 
ciation of  the  sitter's  character  influences  his 
vision,  making  him  see  other  things  than  those 
actually  existent  and  causing  him  to  ignore 
things  which  are  actually  present.  In  an  earlier 
chapter  a  famous'  caricaturist  has  been  quoted 
as  saying  that  the  essence  of  caricature  lies  in 
the  slight  exaggeration  of  some  one  feature — 
that  if  more  than  one  feature  be  exaggerated, 
or  if  the  one  chosen  be  over-emphasized,  the 
result  will  be  not  a  caricature  but  a  grotesque; 
and  this  idea  probably  lies  at  the  root  of  good 
portraiture.  The  artist  unconsciously  exag- 
gerates or  at  least  emphasizes  the  characteris- 
tic features,  suppressing  or  minimizing  those 
which  conflict  with  or  detract  from  the  ideal 

236 


PORTRAITURE 

toward  which  he  is  working.  It  will  be  seen 
from  this  that  the  best  portraitist  is  the  one 
who  combines  in  fullest  measure  the  power  of 
reading  character,  knowledge  of  the  effects  of 
light  and  shadow,  and  mastery  of  the  technic 
of  his  medium,  and  it  necessarily  follows  that 
no  one  ever  passes  the  need  for  study ;  no  one 
ever  knows  all  there  is  to  know  about  any  one 
of  the  three  requirements,  to  say  nothing  of 
them  all. 

Men  are  most  likely  to  have  strongly  marked 
characters,  since  their  mode  of  life  tends  to  de- 
velop the  mental  processes  and  to  encourage 
decision,  whereas  our  present  unfortunate 
ideals  of  feminine  beauty  incline  toward  mere 
regularity  of  outline  and  delicacy  of  complex- 
ion. One  finds,  nevertheless,  a  good  many 
women  whose  features  express  mental  activity 
and  firmness  of  will,  the  higher  beauties  of  the 
mind  rather  than  the  mental  indolence  which  is 
imperative  in  the  cultivation  of  what  is  popu- 
larly termed  beauty ;  and  as  time  goes  on,  with 
the  increasing  share  that  women  are  taking  and 
the  finer  part  they  are  playing  the  world's  af- 
fairs, this  class  will  beyond  doubt  increase  in 

237 


FINE  ART  OF  PROTOGRAPHY 

numbers.  Boys  and  girls  up  to  the  age  of 
eighteen  or  so,  and  small  children,  are  evidently 
very  unlikely  to  possess  strongly  marked  char- 
acteristics, but  they  all  (even  babies)  have  per- 
sonality— that  is,  latent  possibilities — and  it 
must  be  the  artist's  effort  to  discover  and  to 
portray  this  element.  Few  if  any  graphic 
artists  are  equally  good  at  the  portrayal  of 
men  and  women.  The  masculine  mind  is  essen- 
tially logical  and  direct,  the  feminine  being 
more  impulsive  and  intuitive,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  sympathy — a  kindred  quality  of 
mind — is  necessary  for  adequate  portrait  work ; 
the  artist  must  in  some  measure  resemble  the 
sitter,  and  few  persons  are  sufficiently  flexible 
mentally  to  be  able  to  appreciate  both  types  of 
intellect.  To  be  sure,  there  does  not  appear  to 
be  any  sound  reason  why  this  difference  of 
mind  should  be  permanent  throughout  future 
generations,  for  there  is  no  physiological  men- 
tal difference  between  the  sexes,  and  the  pres- 
ent variation  seems  to  be  rather  the  result  of 
education  and  training  than  of  anything  else. 
We  may,  therefore,  expect  to  see  the  minds  of 
men  and  women  approaching  a  common  type 

238 


PORTRAITURE  f 

as  time  goes  on,  but  for  the  present  the  facts 
are  as  stated,  and  each  portrait  worker  will 
have  to  determine  through  experience  whether 
he  will  take  up  the  portraiture  of  men  or  of 
women,  according  to  the  type  of  mind  with 
which  he  is  most  in  sympathy.  To  be  sure,  the 
majority  of  portrait  photographers  work  with 
either  men  or  women  indifferently,  but  it  is 
unfortunately  true  that  most  portrait  photog- 
raphers also  delineate  one  sex  or  the  other 
rather  badly,  or  neither  very  well,  and  it  is  de- 
cidedly better  to  be  a  specialist  in  this  respect. 

It  is  utterly  impossible  to  tell  anyone  how 
to  recognize  and  to  delineate  character.  This 
knowledge  must  come  from  study  on  the  part 
of  the  worker,  but  it  is  by  no  means  advised  that 
he  confine  this  study  to  his  working  hours.  In 
fact,  it  is  strongly  recommended  that  he  do  not 
do  so,  since  opportunities  offer  wherever  peo- 
ple are  found — at  home,  on  the  street,  in  trains, 
at  the  theatre ;  in  short,  practically  everywhere. 
The  student  may  begin  by  noting  the  salient 
characteristics  of  those  with  whom  he  is  ac- 
quainted, as  well  as  the  emphasis  given  to  these 
characteristics  by  various  lightings,  both  nat- 

239 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

ural  and  artificial,  observing  carefully  the  vol- 
ume and  direction  of  the  illumination  in  each 
case,  and  noting  also  the  typical  poses  and 
mannerisms — giving  as  much  consideration  to 
the  hands  as  to  the  face,  for  the  hands  are  sec- 
ond only  to  the  features  in  their  power  of  ex- 
pressing mental  traits  and  mode  of  life.  Thence 
the  student  may  pass  on  to  the  consideration  of 
strangers,  endeavoring  to  interpret  their  char- 
acter in  the  light  of  what  he  has  already  ob- 
served. He  should  cultivate  the  habit  of  making 
mental  notes  of  what  he  sees,  as  well  as  that  of 
making  his  observations  in  a  glance,  this  last 
partly  to  avoid  giving  offense  and  partly  be- 
cause the  ability  to  make  rapid  mental  notes  is 
valuable.  He  will  be  astonished  to  find  how 
rapidly  this  power  develops  with  practice,  so 
that  it  will  eventually  be  possible  for  him  to 
observe  and  memorize  a  face  in  a  few  seconds. 
Having  acquired  this  ability,  the  student  may 
adopt  the  custom  of  deciding  mentally  how  he 
would  treat  each  individual :  whether  he  would 
make  a  large  head,  a  bust,  a  half  length,  or  a 
full  length;  what  pose  of  the  head  and  hands 
would  be  used ;  what  character  of  lighting,  what 

240 


PORTRAITURE  f 

scale  and  key,  what  sort  of  background — in 
short,  he  should  endeavor  to  construct  a  finished 
portrait  of  the  individual  selected,  for  such 
training  will  not  only  help  to  familiarize  him 
with  different  treatments  but  will  also  tend  to 
develop  his  imaginative  powers,  a  faculty  which 
is  not  only  falling  into  desuetude  as  a  result  of 
the  evolution  of  the  race,  but  is  still  further 
suppressed  by  modern  educational  methods. 
The  average  person  supposes  that  a  vivid  imagi- 
nation is  a  drawback  in  modern  life,  and  does 
all  that  he  can  to  restrain  it  in  children,  thinking 
that  to  encourage  it  will  act  unfavorably  on 
their  later  careers.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
imagination  is  a  fundamental  and  essential  fac- 
ulty of  the  mind,  as  much  so  as  memory  or 
logic,  and  perfect  mental  balance  demands  the 
possession  of  all  three  in  due  proportions.  It 
is  only  a  disordered  and  uncontrolled  imagina- 
tion which  is  harmful. 

The  writer  believes  that  photography  is  pre- 
eminently the  best  medium  for  portrait  work, 
and  that  portraiture  is  distinctly  the  metier  of 
the  camera,  being  led  to  this  conclusion  by  the 
following  considerations : 

16  241 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

As  has  been  pointed  out,  the  finest  portrait 
work  demands  primarily  a  fairly  accurate  ren- 
dering of  the  contours  and  gradations  of  the 
face,  and  the  camera  is  able  to  secure  this  bet- 
ter than  any  other  medium,  being  distinguished 
above  all  other  graphic  arts  by  the  accuracy 
with  which  it  records  whatever  is  placed  in 
front  of  it. 

The  second  requirement  for  portraiture  is 
the  power  of  emphasizing  certain  features  and 
suppressing  or  holding  in  reserve  others,  and 
this  the  camera  can  do,  through  choice  of  light- 
ing, and  various  technical  manipulations,  quite 
as  well  as  any  other  graphic  art,  though  when 
it  is  a  question  of  introducing  hand  modifica- 
tions the  photographer  will  do  well  to  exercise 
a  great  deal  of  restraint  unless  he  is  a  trained 
draughtsman.  It  is  no  simple  matter  to  pro- 
duce a  desired  expression  by  means  of  work  on 
the  plate,  and  for  this  reason  the  writer  strongly 
advises  that  the  photographer  study  to  achieve 
his  effects  by  arrangement  of  light,  pose  and 
adjustment  of  values,  reserving,  however,  the 
privilege  of  modifying  the  background  and  the 
play  of  light  in  the  broader  areas  of  the  picture. 

242 


PORTRAIT  OF  DR.  EDWARD  A.  REILEY 
BY  PAUL  L.  ANDERSON 
From  a  Gum-platinum  Print 


PORTRAITURE 

It  may  seem  strange  that  one  so  enthusiastic 
for  free  modification  in  photography  as  is  the 
present  writer  should  nevertheless  insist  on  the 
importance  of  literalness  in  portraiture,  but 
the  explanation  is,  in  reality,  very  simple.  In 
landscape  and  genre  and  marine  work  the  pho- 
tographer is  striving  to  stimulate  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  observer,  so  he  permits  himself  to 
violate  actual  truth  of  appearance,  but  in  por- 
traiture truth  of  appearance  is  the  primary  ob- 
ject, and  it  is  difficult  to  preserve  this  when 
doing  hand  work  on  relatively  small  areas  of 
the  negative  or  the  print.  For  this  reason  it 
seems  best  to  employ  the  retouching  pencil  only 
to  correct  the  faulty  rendering  of  color  values 
characteristic  of  the  ordinary  plate — and  if  a 
panchromatic  plate  is  used  even  this  slight 
amount  of  hand  work  will  be  unnecessary. 

Color,  the  one  element  in  which  photography 
is  weak,  is  by  no  mean  a  necessity  in  portrai- 
ture, since  character  can  be  rendered  as  well  in 
monochrome  as  in  full  color;  in  fact,  the  mono- 
chrome rendering  may  at  times  be  superior  to 
the  other,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  those 
artists  who  are  noted  for  their  psychic  insight 

243 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

are  often  found  to  reduce  their  palettes  almost 
to  monochrome,  employing  color  only  in  small 
areas  and  for  the  sake  of  relief.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  of  the  greatest  masters  of  all,  Rem- 
brandt and  Velasquez;  and  is  particularly 
noticeable  in  their  portraits  of  men  and  women 
of  strong  character,  which,  of  course,  is  just  as 
might  be  expected,  the  appeal  of  form  being 
intellectual  and  that  of  color  sensuous.  It  is 
admitted  that  in  the  case  of  women  whose  inter- 
est lies  in  their  coloring  and  their  regularity 
of  feature  rather  than  in  their  strength  of  char- 
acter, and  in  the  case  of  children,  whose  char- 
acters are  not  fully  formed,  the  absence  of  color 
may  be  unfortunate,  as  may  also  happen  when 
the  primary  interest  is  in  the  picture  rather 
than  in  the  portrait  element ;  but,  in  the  main, 
the  writer  does  not  feel  the  lack  of  color  in 
portrait  photography.  An  interesting  exem- 
plification of  this  condition  is  found  in  two  por- 
traits by  Velasquez — those  of  Maria  Theresa 
of  Austria  and  Admiral  Pulido  Pare j  a.  The 
former,  representing  a  young  princess,  is  much 
higher  in  key  than  the  other,  and  is  rich  in 
color,  whereas  the  latter,  showing  a  man  of 

244 


PORTRAITURE 

strong  character,  is  almost  in  monochrome  and 
presents  greater  contrasts  of  light  and  dark. 
In  the  former  the  interest  is  in  the  picture,  in 
the  latter  it  is  in  the  man.  It  is  understood  that 
where  the  writer  speaks  of  monochrome  in  con- 
nection with  photography  it  is  not  meant  to 
imply  a  pure  black  image  on  a  white  stock, 
since  it  is  quite  within  the  province  of  the  cam- 
era worker  to  make  use  of  a  toned  stock  and  an 
image  of  any  desired  color.  In  fact,  such  an 
adjustment  is  strongly  advised  in  portraiture, 
where  a  buff  or  yellow  stock  and  an  image  in 
warm  black  or  brown  will  strongly  aid  sugges- 
tion and  help  to  produce  a  sense  of  likeness. 
The  writer  has  produced  a  most  satisfactory 
portrait  when  working  in  carbon  by  employing 
a  yellow  transfer  paper,  making  the  first  print- 
ing in  red  chalk,  and  superposing  on  this  sev- 
eral light  printings  in  ivory  black,  the  finished 
picture  having  warm-toned  lights,  the  grada- 
tions shading  through  brown  and  warm  black 
into  black,  and  the  effect  being  impressive  in  the 
sense  of  actuality  conveyed.  This  is  a  different 
matter  from  loading  the  paper  with  glowing 
colors  robbed  from  the  prismatic  spectrum. 

245 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Finally,  composition,  atmosphere,  and  the 
interest  derived  from  a  beautiful  superficial 
texture  are  as  well  within  the  grasp  of  the  pho- 
tographer as  of  the  painter,  so  there  seems  to 
be  no  reason  why  the  camera  should  not  vie 
with  and  perhaps  even  surpass  the  brush  in  this 
phase  of  art;  it  depends  entirely  on  the  users 
of  the  two  mediums  which  shall  prove  the  bet- 
ter. When  we  come  to  the  realms  of  landscape, 
genre  and  illustration  the  case  is  different,  for 
here  the  finest  expression  demands  originative 
imagination  and  the  camera  falls  below  the 
freer  and  less  literal  mediums;  it  is  true  that 
imaginative  conceptions  can  be  expressed  by 
photography,  but  only  at  the  cost  of  excessive 
labor  and  effort.  Briefly  put,  this  means  that 
in  portraiture  the  camera  does  easily  what  is 
difficult  of  accomplishment  by  other  mediums, 
but  in  the  world  of  the  imagination  it  is  handi- 
capped by  the  very  factor  which  makes  it  strong 
in  the  portrayal  of  human  character  and 
personality. 

Turning  now  from  abstract  considerations 
to  the  more  concrete  phases  of  the  work,  we 
must  first  discuss  the  setting,  that  is,  the  loca- 

246 


PORTRAITURE  , 

tion  where  the  work  is  to  be  done,  and  we  find 
three  fundamental  possibilities  offering  them- 
selves— the  home,  the  outdoors  and  the  studio, 
the  studio  being  mentioned  last  because  it  is,  in 
the  writer's  opinion,  the  least  desirable  of  the 
three.  Unless  the  sitter  is  an  actor  or  a  pro- 
fessional model,  he  must  be  an  unusual  person 
to  be  entirely  free  from  self-consciousness  when 
facing  the  camera,  and  it  requires  a  constant 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  photographer  to  over- 
come this  unfavorable  tendency,  which  may 
absolutely  inhibit  a  characteristic  pose  and  ex- 
pression. Self-consciousness  is  at  a  maximum 
in  unfamiliar  surroundings,  being  markedly 
less  when  the  work  is  done  in  the  sitter's  home, 
so  that  the  photographer's  task  is  greatly  sim- 
plified by  going  outside  the  studio.  This  is  so 
emphatically  the  case  that  the  writer  will  not 
make  a  portrait  in  his  studio  if  it  can  possibly 
be  avoided,  children  and  adolescents — who  are 
much  inclined  to  self-consciousness  in  the  best 
of  circumstances — being  especially  difficult  to 
handle  in  a  strange  place.  Further  advantages 
of  working  in  the  sitter's  home  are  that  the 
furniture,  accessories  and  settings  are  those  cus- 

247 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

tomarily  associated  with  the  individual,  this 
being  often  no  small  help  when  a  characteriza- 
tion is  desired ;  that  in  the  case  of  women  there 
is  usually  a  larger  selection  of  clothing  to  work 
with  (and  most  women  are  glad  to  afford  the 
photographer  an  opportunity  of  working  with 
several  gowns) ;  and  that  it  is  easier  to  per- 
suade a  mother  to  let  her  child  be  photographed 
in  ordinary  play  clothes,  a  youngster  in  his 
(or  her)  best  bib  and  tucker  being  one  of  the 
stiffest,  most  uncomfortable  specimens  of 
humanity  imaginable.  It  is  unfortunately  the 
case  that  "  dress-up  "  clothes  are  usually  stiff 
and  uncomfortable,  whatever  the  wearer's  age, 
but  this  regrettable  circumstance  is  still  fur- 
ther complicated  in  the  case  of  children  by  the 
fact  that  most  mothers  seem  to  regard  a  child 
in  much  the  same  light  as  an  animated  toy, 
and  decorate  it  with  pretty  much  all  the  frills 
and  fanciful  ornaments  that  can  conveniently  be 
attached  to  its  attire,  the  final  result  being  un- 
photographable  to  the  last  degree.  However, 
it  is  sometimes  possible  to  catch  r,  child  when 
dirty  and  happy,  in  which  case  the  youngster's 
father  is  fairly  certain  to  like  the  picture, 

248 


PORTRAITURE  f 

though  the  mother  will  prefer  the  more  elab- 
orate one. 

Still  another  advantage  of  going  to  the  sit- 
ter's home  lies  in  the  fact  that  if  the  photog- 
rapher works  always  in  the  same  place  there  is 
great  danger  of  his  falling  into  a  rut  and  pro- 
ducing stereotyped  results,  for  it  takes  a  per- 
son of  exceptional  originality  to  see  new  things 
in  a  place  with  which  he  is  acquainted,  and  there 
is  a  decided  temptation  to  repeat  striking  or 
interesting  effects  of  light  and  pattern  regard- 
less of  their  suitability  to  the  case  at  hand.  This 
danger  is  avoided  or  minimized  by  going  out, 
for  conditions  are  then  never  twice  alike,  so  that 
not  only  is  monotony  of  result  avoided  but  the 
photographer  becomes  a  more  versatile  tech- 
nician, since  he  is  working  with  constantly 
varying  intensities  of  light  instead  of  with  the 
relatively  uniform  illumination  of  the  studio. 
For  these  reasons  the  writer  prefers  to  use  a 
studio  merely  as  a  reception-room  and  work- 
shop, going  out  for  sitting  whenever  it  is  at  all 
possible  to  do  so,  the  results  of  several  years 
of  portrait  work  having  confirmed  him  in  this 
opinion,  which  was  originally  reached  through 

249 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

a  process  of  deductive  reasoning.  Incidentally, 
he  would  add  that  when  a  large  camera  is  used 
for  home  portraiture  it  is  a  mistake  to  carry  it 
any  great  distance ;  a  dollar  or  so  for  a  taxicab 
will  be  well  spent,  the  saving  of  nervous  energy 
being  reflected  in  the  finished  prints.  Portrai- 
ture, when  attacked  with  the  intensity  and 
concentration  necessary  to  produce  the  finest 
results,  involves  no  small  drain  on  the  nervous 
system,  and  a  man  cannot  command  his  reserves 
of  energy  when  tired. 

A  well-known  worker  has  been  heard  to  say 
that  the  outdoors  is  not  suitable  for  portraiture, 
even  going  so  far  as  to  assert  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  secure  satisfactory  portraits  in  those 
circumstances,  but  the  writer  dissents  most  vig- 
orously from  this  proposition,  and,  in  fact,  will 
say  that  if  the  conditions  are  at  all  favorable 
it  is  even  easier  to  obtain  good  portraits  out-of- 
doors  than  in.  It  is  merely  necessary  to  point 
to  the  work  of  D.  O.  Hill  to  prove  that  por- 
traiture of  the  very  highest  order  is  possible 
out-of-doors,  and  though  the  writer  does  not 
presume  to  institute  any  comparison  between 
himself  and  the  great  Scotchman,  he  would 

250 


PORTRAITURE  , 

nevertheless  remark  that  both  the  Portrait  of 
Mrs.  George  B.  Hollister  (page  292)  and 
Priscilla  (page  280)  were  made  out-of-doors. 
The  reason  for  this  difference  of  opinion  is 
probably  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  worker 
who  condemned  outdoor  light  is  inclined  to 
favor  a  low  key,  and  it  is  undeniably  difficult  to 
secure  good  low-toned  effects  out-of-doors ;  but, 
as  will  be  seen  later,  the  writer  does  not  favor  or 
approve  this  style  in  portrait  work,  and  there 
is  no  trouble  at  all  in  obtaining  high-keyed  or 
full-scale  effects  in  the  open  air.  It  is  simply 
a  question  of  using  judgment  and  discrimina- 
tion in  arranging  the  composition,  and  of  hav- 
ing a  fairly  good  grasp  of  technic.  Further, 
the  mere  fact  of  going  out-of-doors  to  pose, 
since  it  is  beyond  the  experience  of  the  average 
person,  aids  in  doing  away  with  that  bug-bear 
of  the  portrait  worker — self -consciousness ;  and 
the  briefer  exposures  possible  are  a  great  help 
in  the  case  of  children. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  the  sitter's  home 
is  a  small  or  poorly  lighted  city  apartment,  that 
the  fact  of  the  portrait's  being  taken  is  to  be 
kept  secret  from  some  member  of  the  family,  or 

251 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

that  some  other  cause  prevents  the  work  being 
done  at  the  home  or  out-of-doors,  and  in  such 
an  event  it  becomes  necessary  to  make  the  sit- 
ting at  the  studio.  Such  contingencies  must, 
of  course,  be  provided  for,  and  in  order  to  meet 
them,  as  well  as  to  provide  a  suitable  place  for 
receiving  visitors,  the  studio  should  be  finished 
as  nearly  as  possible  like  an  attractive  living 
room,  with  simple  but  good  furniture,  a  flat- 
toned  wall  of  gray  or  tan,  a  few  good  framed 
pictures  on  the  walls,  hard-wood  floors,  an 
Oriental  rug  or  two,  and,  if  possible,  a  broad 
window-seat.  The  camera  should  be  kept  out 
of  sight  until  required,  for  the  same  reason  that 
a  surgeon  or  a  dentist  conceals  his  instruments 
— to  avoid  making  the  patient  nervous — and 
the  skylight  should  be  conspicuous  by  its 
absence.  One  of  the  ablest  of  portrait  photog- 
raphers has  said:  "  I  work  anywhere — living 
room,  bedroom,  butler's  pantry,  anywhere.  The 
ordinary  studio,  with  its  skylight,  I  regard  as 
a  famous  place  for  propagating  tropical  plants, 
but  for  no  other  purpose."  It  may  not  be 
amiss  to  state  that  the  writer's  portrait  of  his 
mother  (page  16)  was  made  in  the  kitchen, 

252 


PORTRAITURE 

'?•  *  ' 

simply  because  it  was  the  only  room  in  the  house 
which  afforded  the  desired  combination  of  back- 
ground and  light.  We  never  see  our  acquain- 
tances under  a  skylight,  so  why  photograph 
them  there?  The  ordinary  window  will  be 
ample  for  all  we  shall  need,  will  give  sufficient 
illumination,  and  affords  truthful  as  well  as 
pleasing  effects.  But  if  possible  it  should  be 
a  south  window.  The  painter  chooses  a  north 
light  because  he  must  have  his  light  steady  and 
comparatively  uniform  for  hours  at  a  time,  and 
photographers  have  blindly  and  unthinkingly 
followed  his  example,  despite  the  fact  that  with 
camera  exposures,  being  a  matter  of  a  few  sec- 
onds at  most,  variations  in  the  light  are  of  no 
consequence.  Further,  a  south  light  will  do 
all  that  a  north  light  will  and  much  that  it  can- 
not, many  very  delightful  effects  being  secured 
by  direct  sunlight,  either  on  the  sitter  or  on  the 
surroundings. 

In  the  event  of  being  unable  to  secure  a 
location  affording  a  satisfactory  light,  the  pho- 
tographer will  do  well  to  employ  some  form  of 
artificial  illumination,  this  being,  indeed,  useful 
at  times  as  an  adjunct  to  daylight  on  dull  days 

253 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

or  in  the  evening,  or  for  supplementary  light- 
ing, to  raise  the  key  of  excessively  heavy  shad- 
ows or  to  furnish  effects  of  cross-lighting.  For 
portraiture  the  writer  prefers  to  use  a  1000- 
watt  Mazda,  either  alone  or  in  conjunction  with 
a  500-watt  lamp  of  the  same  type,  these  lights 
being  less  harsh  than  the  arc  and  consequently 
more  likely  to  afford  a  satisfactory  quality  of 
modeling.  Suitable  reflectors,  of  a  form  ap- 
proaching but  not  quite  coinciding  with  the 
parabolic,  should  be  provided,  and  the  whole 
may  be  held  in  a  clamp  which,  being  attached 
to  a  vertical  iron  rod  mounted  on  a  movable 
base,  permits  the  lamp  to  be  lowered  to  the 
floor  or  elevated  to  any  height  up  to  about  eight 
feet,  and  to  be  adjusted  at  any  required  angle. 
It  is  an  easy  matter  to  fit  diffusing  screens  of 
tracing  paper,  but  these  should  be  so  arranged 
as  to  be  easily  removed,  for  the  lamps  will  often 
be  used  without  them.  These  lamps  give  very 
good  color  values  without  a  ray-filter,  and  cor- 
rect values  with  a  light  screen,  and,  if  panchro- 
matic plates  are  used,  permit  very  brief 
exposures,  a  fraction  of  a  second  being  suffi- 
cient at  an  aperture  of  F/5.5.  The  expense  of 

254 


PORTRAITURE  f 

operating  such  lamps  amounts  to  about  ten 
cents  an  hour  for  the  1000- watt  lamp  and  half 
that  for  the  500-watt  one,  on  a  basis  of  ten  cents 
per  kilowatt  hour  for  electric  current,  this  being 
greatly  in  excess  of  that  involved  in  the  use  of 
the  mercury-vapor  arc,  which  is  often  recom- 
mended for  studio  work,  and  is  undeniably 
cheap,  convenient  and  easy  to  use.  However, 
the  latter  form  of  illuminant  is  practically  de- 
void of  all  but  ultra-violet  and  violet  rays  (at 
least  so  far  asf  studio  work  is  concerned)  so  it 
is  evidently  incapable  of  giving  correct  color 
values,  and  the  writer  feels  that  the  more  ex- 
pensive lamp  will  more  than  pay  for  itself  in 
better  results,  together  with  the  saving  due  to 
minimizing  the  need  for  retouching.  A  spot- 
light will  often  be  found  very  useful  in  por- 
trait work  as  well  as  in  illustration,  and  Eugene 
Hutchinson  has  suggested  to  the  writer  a  sim- 
ple form  which  he  finds  to  work  satisfactorily. 
It  consists  merely  of  a  200-watt  Mazda  rigidly 
mounted  on  a  rod,  with  a  sleeve  sliding  on  this 
rod,  and  a  reflector  mounted  on  the  sleeve,  so 
that  the  light  may  be  concentrated  or  spread 
simply  by  sliding  the  reflector  backward  or 

255 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

forward,  the  whole  apparatus  being,  of  course, 
attached  to  a  vertical  rod  by  means  of  a  swivel 
clamp,  to  permit  of  elevating  or  lowering  and 
of  tilting. 

When  the  work  is  done  out-of-doors  or  in  the 
sitter's  home,  the  background  and  accessories 
will  be  those  which  offer  themselves,  and  we 
cannot  condemn  too  severely  the  custom  of  tak- 
ing painted  backgrounds  when  going  out  to  do 
home  portrait  work,  since  this  is  deliberately  to 
discard  one  of  the  chief  advantages  of  working 
outside  the  studio.  The  photographer  should, 
therefore,  accustom  himself  to  looking  at  the 
various  possible  settings  simply  as  arrange- 
ments of  masses — patterns  in  light  and  dark- 
ignoring  their  actual  character.  It  will  be 
found  that  infinite  possibilities  present  them- 
selves— a  wall,  a  painting,  a  piece  of  furniture, 
a  door,  a  doorway  into  another  room,  a  door- 
way leading  to  the  open  air,  a  grape  arbor,  a 
tree-trunk,  a  distant  landscape,  the  open  sky, 
a  window,  a  distant  building,  a  sloping  lawn,  a 
piece  of  tapestry  and  a  staircase  being  among 
the  many  things  which  have  at  various  times 
served  the  writer  for  this  purpose.  Acces- 

256 


THE  BRIDE 

BY  GERTRUDE  KASEBIER. 

From  a  Gum  Print 


PORTRAITURE 

series  should  be  few  in  number  and  inconspic- 
uous, the  ideal  here  being  that  enunciated  in  an 
earlier  chapter — just  so  much  detail  as  aids  the 
expression  of  the  principal  idea,  and  no  more. 
A  small  table,  a  chair,  a  vase  of  flowers,  a  book, 
a  microscope,  a  fan,  a  portfolio  of  prints,  pal- 
ette and  brush,  a  pair  of  gloves,  any  of  these 
or  of  thousands  of  other  things  will  serve. 
Whatever  is  used,  however,  must  be  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  combine  harmoniously  with  the 
rest  of  the  picture,  and  it  is  often  the  case  that 
no  accessories  at  all  will  be  introduced,  pose, 
expression  and  lighting  being  relied  on  for  the 
desired  explanation  of  character.  If  the  work 
is  to  be  done  in  the  studio  the  settings  should  be 
of  the  same  kind  as  those  found  in  the  home, 
the  painted  backgrounds  of  the  average  studio 
being  an  abomination,  especially  the  variety 
known  as  "  scenic."  These  never  have  a  real 
appearance  but  are  always  an  obvious  counter- 
feit— they  remain  inevitably  "  a  painted  ship 
upon  a  painted  ocean."  Nothing  can  be  more 
ludicrously  incongruous  than  a  figure  under  an 
obvious  indoor  lighting  with  a  landscape  back- 
ground which  includes  a  house  that  judged  by 

17  257 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

atmospheric  perspective  is  six  feet  from  the 
sitter,  but  judged  by  linear  perspective  is  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  away — nothing,  that  is,  unless 
perhaps  it  be  a  figure,  still  in  an  indoor  light, 
posed  against  a  window  which  throws  no  ves- 
tige of  light  whatever  upon  the  figure.  The 
writer  has  seen  both  of  these  examples  of  lack 
of  unity,  and  that  not  in  a  showcase  on  the  East 
Side  of  New  York,  but  among  the  work  of  men 
who  profess  to  be  the  ultra-fashionable  and 
highest  priced  photographers  of  a  large  city. 
Even  the  clouded  backgrounds  smack  of  the 
studio,  and  when  the  desired  effect  calls  for  a 
simple  modulated  background  the  photog- 
rapher is  advised  to  use  a  plain  dark  or  medium- 
toned  one  and  spend  a  few  minutes  working  on 
the  negative  with  pencil  or  air-brush,  for  he 
can  thus  introduce  the  light  precisely  where  it 
is  needed,  instead  of  being  obliged  to  depend 
on  the  stereotyped  and  mechanical  ideas  of  a 
scene-painter. 

If  such  a  thing  is  within  the  range  of  possi- 
bility, as  often  happens  in  small  towns  or  even 
in  suburban  places  of  considerable  size,  one  of 
the  most  valuable  of  all  adjuncts  to  a  profes- 

258 


PORTRAITURE 

sional  studio  is  a  garden,  since  this  will  afford 
opportunity  for  outdoor  work  in  a  setting  de- 
signed by  the  photographer  himself  to  meet  his 
own  requirements.  It  need  not  be  a  large  place, 
but  it  will  be  found  that  the  formal  type  will 
prove  more  useful  than  the  wilder  and  more 
natural  sort  which  is  more  pleasing  to  many 
people  than  the  type  indicated.  A  brick  wall,  a 
pergola,  a  few  benches  of  stone  or  concrete,  a 
vase  and  a  statuette  on  pedestals,  a  small  foun- 
tain, two  or  three  small  trees,  a  bit  of  lawn 
with  a  few  flowers  and  a  brick  wall  partly  over- 
grown with  ivy  will  furnish  many  settings  for 
portraits  of  the  most  delightful  character,  espe- 
cially when  the  sitters  are  women  or  children, 
and  will  amply  repay  the  cost,  not  only  in  di- 
rect results  but  also  in  the  pleasure  afforded  the 
photographer  himself.  Even  in  a  large  city  it 
is  sometimes  possible  to  construct  a  small  gar- 
den on  the  roof  of  an  office-building,  and  the 
writer  knows  one  photographer  in  the  center 
of  New  York  City,  many  of  whose  happiest 
results  have  been  secured  in  such  a  place,  which 
of  course,  can  often  be  used  in  winter  as  well 
as  in  summer. 

259 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

The  type  of  camera,  as  well  as  the  size,  must 
be  left  to  each  individual  to  determine  for  him- 
self. Inasmuch  as  the  writer  prefers  bromoil  to 
any  other  printing  medium,  he  generally  uses 
a  4X5  reflecting  camera,  but  it  is  cheerfully 
admitted  that  bromoil  is  by  no  means  a  suitable 
medium  for  the  average  run  of  professional 
work,  being  distinctly  adapted  either  to  ama- 
teur work  or  to  the  very  highest  and  most  ex- 
pensive class  of  professional  portraiture,  and 
in  the  great  majority  of  cases  a  contact  print- 
ing paper  or  an  enlarging  paper  of  the  bromide 
type  will  be  employed.  For  contact  work  plat- 
inum— or  its  newer  equivalent,  palladium — is 
probably  superior  to  anything  else,  but  many 
workers  prefer  one  or  another  of  the  various 
silver  papers,  which,  though  possessing  the  ad- 
vantage of  not  requiring  sunlight  for  printing, 
have  neither  the  scale,  the  surface  quality  nor 
the  permanence  of  platinum.  It  is,  however, 
possible  to  make  direct  enlargements  on  silver 
papers  from  small  negatives,  and  this  is  in  their 
favor,  for,  assuming  that  the  print  has  no  very 
heavy  shadows  and  is  to  be  framed,  enlarge- 
ments on  suitable  bromide  papers  may  be  prac- 

260 


PORTRAITURE 

tically  indistinguishable,  so  far  as  appearance 
is  concerned,  from  contact  prints  on  platinum. 
The  writer  has  settled  on  the  type  and  size  of 
camera  indicated  after  several  years  of  experi- 
ence with  other  types  and  sizes,  and  believes 
it  to  be  the  most  satisfactory  unless  the  prints 
are  to  be  made  in  platinum,  carbon  or  gum. 
When  it  is  a  question  of  either  oil  printing  or 
the  use  of  a  silver  paper,  the  large  camera  pre- 
sents no  advantages,  and  has  the  drawbacks  of 
bulk,  weight  and  cost  of  plates;  though,  until 
some  knowledge  of  composition  has  been 
gained,  it  will  probably  be  better  for  the  student 
to  work  with  a  larger  instrument,  a  large 
ground  glass  being  easier  to  compose  the  pic- 
ture on. 

As  to  retouching,  the  author's  recommenda- 
tion is  identical  with  Punch's  famous  advice 
to  those  about  to  marry — "  Don't."  In  the  old 
days  of  the  wet  collodion  plate,  when  color-sen- 
sitive emulsions  were  unknown,  the  color-blind 
plate  exaggerated  wrinkles  and  skin  blemishes, 
since  these,  being  mainly  of  a  red  or  yellow 
tinge,  photographed  much  darker  than  they 
appeared  to  the  eye.  It  falsified  gradations  as 

261 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

well,  for  the  shadow  side  of  a  face  is  seldom  of 
the  same  color  as  the  lighter  portions,  objects, 
of  course,  taking  their  color  largely  from  the 
light  which  illuminates  them.  Therefore,  the 
retouching  pencil  was  resorted  to  in  order  to 
secure  a  pleasing  effect,  and  a  conventionalized 
tradition  of  retouching  has  grown  up,  until  at 
the  present  day  negatives  are  retouched  and 
"  modeled  "  by  rule,  the  work  often  being  done 
by  someone  who  has  never  even  laid  eyes  on 
the  sitter.  There  is  no  excuse  for  such  untruth- 
ful and  inartistic  methods,  for  the  modern  pan- 
chromatic plate  will  render  values  exactly  as 
they  appear  to  the  eye,  and  (especially  when 
used  in  conjunction  with  a  soft-focus  lens) 
will  produce  negatives  that  need  no  retouching, 
the  greater  cost  of  the  plates  being  offset  by 
the  saving  in  the  retoucher's  wages,  not  to  men- 
tion the  vast  improvement  in  results,  for  the 
lens  and  plate  will  give  better  modeling  than 
the  pencil  in  the  hands  of  some  eighteen-dollar- 
a-week  girl  who  has  never  seen  the  sitter.*  The 

*  For  a  more  complete  discussion  of  the  use  in  portraiture  of 
the  color-sensitive  plate  and  its  adjunct,  the  ray-filter,  see  "  Pic- 
torial Photography,  Its  Principles  and  Practice,"  Chapter  III. 

262 


PORTRAITURE  * 

writer  retouches — in  the  accepted  sense  of  the 
word — probably  not  more  than  one  per  cent, 
of  his  portrait  negatives,  and  these  only  when 
some  inherent  facial  blemish  or  false  value  pre- 
vents the  securing  of  a  characteristic  result  by 
direct  methods.  So  far  as  backgrounds  are 
concerned,  and  the  pulling  together  of  a  com- 
position by  modification  of  relative  values,  hand 
work  is  more  frequent,  but  it  is  generally 
confined  to  raising  or  lowering  the  value  of 
relatively  large  areas,  by  the  handling  of  the 
inking  brush. 

A  discussion  of  dark-room  and  printing- 
room  methods  is  beyond  the  scope  of  a  book  of 
this  character,  but  the  writer  would  take  occa- 
sion to  mention  two  convictions  which  are  the 
result  of  many  years  of  experience,  though  they 
are  at  variance  with  the  beliefs  of  numerous 
photographers.  The  first  is  that  none  of  the 
developers  in  common  use  is  any  better  than 
any  other  so  far  as  results  are  concerned,  the 
choice  being  purely  a  matter  of  convenience  and 
cost ;  the  second  is  that  tank  development  gives 
a  larger  percentage  of  good  negatives  than  any 
other  method.  The  writer  observes  with  pleas- 

263 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

ure  that  the  number  of  photographers  who  use 
the  tank  is  constantly  increasing,  the  objection 
to  it  on  account  of  its  mechanical  nature  being 
met  by  the  argument  that  the  mechanical  part 
of  photography  is,  precisely,  mechanical.  He 
feels  that,  when  the  use  of  the  tank  and  the 
panchromatic  plate  becomes  general,  photog- 
raphy will  have  made  a  great  stride  in  the  direc- 
tion of  truthful  and — though  the  words  are  far 
from  synonymous — artistic  results. 

One  of  the  first  and  most  important  injunc- 
tions that  can  be  given  to  a  portrait  photog- 
rapher is:  Do  not  hurry.  It  is  said  that  in 
some  of  the  large  city  studios  the  operator  is 
expected  to  make  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  sit- 
tings a  day,  which  figures  out  about  one  every 
fifteen  minutes,  and  it  is  evident  that  work 
-done  in  such  haste  must  necessarily  be  of  the 
most  conventional  style  imaginable ;  it  is  utterly 
out  of  the  question  for  anyone  to  obtain  even  a 
moderately  good  grasp  of  another's  character 
at  a  glance— though  it  is  well  to  endeavor  to 
do  so — and  the  operator  who  works  in  the  fash- 
ion indicated  is  not  an  artist  but  a  mechanic; 
his  work  is  comparable  to  that  of  the  man  who 

264 


PORTRAITURE 

runs  a  turret  lathe,  and  requires  very  little 
more  intelligence  than  the  latter  task.  The 
painter  has  an  excellent  opportunity  for  study- 
ing his  sitter's  character,  since  they  spend  sev- 
eral hours  together  at  different  times  during 
the  construction  of  a  portrait,  and  the  photog- 
rapher may  well  profit  by  his  example.  The 
writer  endeavors,  whenever  possible,  to  inter- 
view the  prospective  sitter  and  make  an  ap- 
pointment for  the  actual  sitting,  so  that  he  has 
at  least  two  chances  to  observe  the  person  whom 
he  is  to  photograph,  and  this  custom  operates 
in  two  ways,  for  it  not  only  permits  the  worker 
to  become  acquainted  with  the  sitter,  but  also 
affords  the  latter  the  opportunity  of  getting 
to  know  the  photographer,  so  that  he  will  be  less 
self-conscious  when  the  sitting  takes  place. 
This  is  no  small  advantage,  and  is  of  especial 
moment  in  the  case  of  children.  Failing  this,  it 
will  practically  always  (unless  personally  ac- 
quainted with  the  sitter)  prove  a  good  invest- 
ment of  time  to  sit  down  and  converse  for  a  while 
before  starting  work.  The  writer  has  at  times 
spent  half  an  hour  or  an  hour  very  profitably 
in  this  manner,  the  conversation  serving  the 

265 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

double  purpose  of  affording  the  photographer 
an  opportunity  of  observing  the  sitter  and  at 
the  same  time  putting  the  latter  at  ease.  It  is 
desirable  that  the  photographer  have  a  broad 
general  education,  so  that  he  can  take  an  intel- 
ligent interest  in  any  subject  and  can  gradu- 
ally lead  the  conversation  toward  the  sitter's 
hobby,  but  he  must  at  'any  rate  be  able  to  ap- 
pear interested  in  some  topic  which  is  of  interest 
to  the  sitter,  and  thus  lead  the  latter  to  forget 
his  self-consciousness  and  to  display  animation, 
when  he  is  certain,  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
moment,  to  reveal  characteristic  poses  and 
expressions. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  at  the  same 
time  difficult  sitters  the  writer  ever  encountered 
was  an  Antarctic  explorer,  a  man  of  tremen- 
dous force  of  character  but  at  the  same  time  of 
such  extreme  modesty  that  he  was  unable  to 
conceive  of  anyone  wanting  a  portrait  of  him, 
an  inability  which  caused  him  to  seem  listless 
and  devoid  of  animation,  but  the  ice  was  finally 
and  effectively  broken  by  a  question.  This 
explorer  had  encountered  hardship  and  priva- 
tion in  the  form  of  cold,  hunger,  danger  and 

266 


PORTRAITURE 

hard  work,  which  would  have  been  fatal  to  any 
but  a  trained  athlete  of  high  vitality,  and,  in- 
deed, was  fatal  to  two  of  his  companions.  The 
writer  asked:  "  Did  you  find  that  the  hardships 
you  experienced  in  the  Antarctic  had  any  per- 
manently deleterious  effect  on  your  health?" 
and  the  reply,  given  in  tones  of  utter  and  sin- 
cere amazement,  was : 

"  Hardships?  Why,  we  didn't  have  any 
hardships!  Well,  that  is,  aside  from  starva- 
tion; that  was  rather  uncomfortable,  but  ex- 
cept for  that  we  had  a  pretty  easy  time  of  it." 

From  that  the  conversation  led  on  to  polar 
exploration  in  general,  and  the  result  was  one 
of  the  writer's  most  successful  portraits.  In- 
cidentally, the  writer  has  been  wondering  ever 
since  just  what  that  man  would  regard  as  hard- 
ship! Some  workers  go  so  far  as  to  employ 
an  entertainer,  a  person  whose  function  it  is 
to  engage  the  sitter  in  conversation,  the  photog- 
rapher making  the  exposures  without  letting 
the  sitter  know  what  is  taking  place;  but, 
though  good  results  have  unquestionably  been 
secured  in  this  manner,  the  writer  feels  that 
with  the  average  adult  it  is  better  to  let  him 

267 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

know  when  the  picture  is  being  taken,  a  con- 
centration of  interest  and  attention  being  thus 
obtained.  However,  with  children  or  neurotic 
individuals  the  former  plan  is  often  the  better. 
When  it  comes  to  posing,  here  again  Punch's 
advice  is  sound.  The  best  method  is  to  place  a 
chair  in  the  desired  location,  in  such  a  position 
that  when  the  sitter  takes  his  place  he  naturally 
seats  himself  in  the  proper  relation  to  the  light, 
or  if  he  is  to  stand  the  place  may  be  indicated 
and  he  be  invited  to  step  to  it.  Further  posing 
must  be  done  by  the  sitter  himself  in  response 
to  suggestions:  "  Just  turn  the  head  a  little  this 
way,"  or  "  Just  let  the  right  hand  drop  on  the 
arm  of  the  chair,"  or  the  like,  for  the  photog- 
rapher must  never  permit  himself,  for  any  con- 
sideration whatever,  to  touch  the  sitter,  the 
most  that  can  be  allowed  being  an  adjust- 
ment of  clothing  or  draperies,  and  even  this  is 
far  better  done  by  the  sitter.  A  touch  is  almost 
certain  not  only  to  make  the  sitter  freeze  in  the 
position  to  which  he  is  moved,  but  also  to  induce 
a  defensive  attitude  of  mind  which  is  fatal  to 
the  best  results,  this  being  particularly  the  case 
with  women  and  children.  The  only  exception 

268 


PORTRAITURE 

to  this  rule  is  when  the  sitter  is  a  man  and  the 
photographer  is  an  attractive  woman;  in  such 
a  case  no  harm  is  done  beyond  the  fact  that, 
the  average  man  being  as  vain  as  a  peacock,  a 
touch  is  likely  to  produce  a  self-satisfied  smirk. 
The  photographer  should  learn  to  work 
quietly  but  with  decision  and  certainty.  Noth- 
ing so  fatigues  a  sitter  as  to  be  asked  to  change 
a  pose  and  then  return  to  it  again,  and  any  evi- 
dence of  nervousness  on  the  part  of  the  man 
behind  the  camera,  any  jumping  around  or 
rushing  from  one  thing  to  another,  any  hasty 
seizing  of  plate-holders  or  other  signs  of  excite- 
ment will  communicate  a  tenseness  to  the  sitter 
unless  he  is  an  unusually  phlegmatic  individual, 
and  even  then  will  give  an  unfavorable  impres- 
sion of  the  photographer's  ability,  as  will  also 
any  evidence  of  mistakes.  We  are  all  apt  at 
times  to  forget  to  draw  the  slide  of  the  plate- 
holder  before  opening  the  shutter,  but  we  need 
not  let  the  sitter  know  it  when  we  do.  Rubin- 
stein once  remarked :  "In  a  recital  I  drop 
enough  notes  to  make  a  sonata,"  but  only  those 
of  his  hearers  who  were  trained  musicians  were 
conscious  of  the  fact. 

269 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

The  posing,  then,  should  be  done  by  the  sit- 
ter himself,  but  that  is  no  reason  why  the 
photographer  should  accept  any  pose  which 
may  offer.  With  children  the  best  plan  is  to 
follow  them  around  and  wait  until  a  satisfac- 
tory pose  occurs,  and  for  this  reason  the  writer 
emphatically  prefers  a  reflecting  camera  to  any 
other  type,  working  out-of-doors  whenever 
possible  and  making  numerous  exposures. 
Making  two  dozen  small  negatives  and  select- 
ing the  best  four  or  live  for  enlargement  is  far 
easier  and  more  likely  to  produce  spontaneous 
and  good  results  than  attempting  to  hold  a 
child  in  one  location  for  half  a  dozen  exposures 
with  a  view  or  studio  camera,  and  enlargements 
or  enlarged  negatives  can  readily  be  made,  los- 
ing none  of  the  quality  of  the  original.  The  chief 
danger  in  working  thus  is  that  since  the  child 
will  very  likely  be  moving  from  place  to  place 
the  photographer  may  concentrate  all  his  atten- 
tion on  the  figure  and  forget  to  observe  the 
background  which  exists  at  the  time  of  making 
the  exposure.  This  fault  must,  of  course,  be 
guarded  against,  and  it  will  necessarily  force 
the  worker  into  the  habit  of  rapid  observation, 

270 


PORTRAIT 

BY  CATHERCNE  COLLIER 

From  an  Oil  Print 


PORTRAITURE 

but  even  so  the  method  is,  in  the  writer's  opin- 
ion, preferable  to  the  use  of  a  less  mobile  piece 
of  apparatus.  The  writer  has  made  over  a 
hundred  finished  pictures  of  his  two  children, 
working  by  both  methods,  and  feels  that  the 
one  indicated  has  completely  demonstrated  its 
superior  worth.  With  adults,  however,  he  pre- 
fers to  work  direct  (unless  prints  larger  than 
8X10  are  desired)  since  grown  persons  are 
more  readily  controlled. 

It  is  no  more  possible  to  give  complete  in- 
structions for  posing  than  to  tell  how  to  read 
character,  but  a  few  suggestions  may  be  made. 
The  first  has  to  do  with  the  height  of  the  cam- 
era, which  should  always  be  adjusted  with  ref- 
erence to  the  effect  desired  and  not  at  all  with 
a  view  to  the  convenience  of  the  photographer, 
as  is  generally  done.  Placing  the  camera  low 
tends  to  give  an  air  of  height  and  dignity  to  the 
sitter,  but  is,  unfortunately,  dangerous  in  the 
case  of  stout  persons,  since  it  emphasizes  the 
chin  and  lower  portion  of  the  face  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  upper  part  of  the  head.  Subjects 
of  this  type  should  generally  stand,  a  half  or 
three-quarter  length  being  made,  should  rarely 

271 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

be  posed  with  the  face  directly  toward  the  cam- 
era, and  should  still  more  rarely  be  illuminated 
with  a  flat  light,  a  three-quarter  front  view  in 
conjunction  with  a  side  lighting  tending  to 
make  tke  face  look  thinner.  Conversely,  a  thin 
person  may  more  readily  face  the  camera  and 
the  light  may  come  more  around  toward  the 
front,  it  being  a  mistake  to  suppose,  as  do  so 
many  writers,  that  an  appearance  of  rotundity 
can  be  given  only  by  having  the  light  fall  on 
the  face  at  an  angle;. if  the  values  are  correctly 
rendered  the  head  will  appear  in  three  dimen- 
sions with  the  flattest  possible  front  lighting. 
However,  a  flat  lighting,  by  illuminating  wrin- 
kles and  character  lines,  tends  to  smooth  these 
out,  but  as  the  light  travels  around  toward  the 
side  the  shadows  become  longer  and  more  ap- 
parent, the  contours  of  the  face  becoming 
longer  and  thinner,  so  the  three-quarter  or  side 
type  of  illumination  will  generally  be  employed 
with  persons  of  strongly  marked  character. 
The  pose  which  will  be  found  least  generally 
useful  is  that  which  shows  a  full  front  view  of 
both  body  and  head,  since  this  is  symmetrical 
and  formal,  and  is  apt  to  give  a  stolid  or  even  a 

272 


PORTRAITURE 

stodgy  look.  On  the  other  hand,  to  show  either 
body  or  head  in  front  view  and  the  other  in 
profile  is  likely  to  give  a  strained  effect,  for 
this  is  a  difficult  pose  to  hold.  Generally  speak- 
ing, the  greatest  feeling  of  animation  will  be 
secured  when  the  body  is  shown  from  three- 
quarters  front  view  to  full  profile,  the  head 
being  slightly  turned  toward  the  camera  and 
the  eyes  directed  either  straight  ahead  or  a  lit- 
tle more  toward  the  camera  than  the  face.  In 
other  words,  if  we  suppose  the  sitter  to  be  di- 
rectly facing  the  camera  and  the  three  signifi- 
cant factors  of  body,  head  and  eyes  to  be  grad- 
ually turned  away,  the  body  should  be  the  first 
to  leave  the  direct  front  line,  the  head  the  next, 
and  the  eyes  the  last,  though  the  extent  to  which 
each  should  be  turned  will  necessarily  depend 
on  the  individual  case.  It  must  be  under- 
stood, however  that  this  is  only  a  broad  gen- 
eral rule  which  will  by  no  means  invariably  be 
followed.  A  pensive  look  is  often  secured  by 
turning  the  head  more  away  from  the  camera 
than  the  body  and  letting  the  eyes  follow  the 
direction  of  the  head,  though  if  this  pose  of 
body  and  head  be  used  and  the  eyes  be  turned 

18  273 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

toward  the  lens  the  effect  is  apt  to  be  coquettish 
(especially  if  the  head  be  slightly  tipped  for- 
ward, so  that  the  sitter  is  looking  up),  and  if 
the  effort  for  coquettishness  is  carried  too  far 
a  look  of  slyness  will  result. 

As  much  attention  should  be  given  to  the 
posing  of  the  hands  as  to  any  other  element, 
and  it  is  almost  invariably  the  case  that  they 
chould  be  given  something  to  do,  since  few  per- 
sons can  pose  empty  hands  well.  It  has  been 
said  that  "  women  can  sometimes  pose  empty 
hand  gracefully,  men  seldom,  girls  never,"  and 
to  this  it  might  be  added  that  a  boy's  only  no- 
tion of  the  satisfactory  disposition  of  his  hands 
is  to  put  them  into  his  pockets — an  act  which 
is  in  itself  by  no  means  to  be  ignored  as  an  ex- 
pression of  adolescent  shyness.  A  book,  a 
flower,  a  fan,  gloves,  a  parasol  or  cane,  a  cigar 
or  cigarette,  or  anything  which  offers  the  hands 
a  reason  for  their  position  will  be  found  help- 
ful, and  it  may  incidentally  be  remarked  that 
a  man  who  is  to  be  photographed  should  always 
be  invited  to  smoke,  his  self-consciousness  being 
greatly  mitigated  thereby,  not  to  mention  the 
fact  that  a  great  many  men  are  more  recogniz- 

274 


PORTRAITURE 

able  to  their  friends  when  smoking  than  when 
not.  It  will  be  found  that  the  average  person 
has  an  altogether  erroneous  idea  of  the  true 
relative  size  of  hands  and  head,  so  that  if  they 
are  portrayed  in  their  actual  relation  the  hands 
will  seem  much  too  large.  It  is  true  that  the 
short-focus  lenses  too  frequently  used  for  por- 
traiture unduly  exaggerate  the  size  of  the 
hands,  since  these  ordinarily  lie  in  a  plane 
nearer  the  camera  than  the  face,  but  apart  from 
this  the  photographer  will  have  to  treat  the 
hands  carefully  if  a  satisfactory  result  is  to  be 
obtained.  This  may  be  accomplished  by  keep- 
ing the  light  on  them  in  rather  a  lower  key 
than  that  on  the  face,  by  having  the  edges 
rather  than  the  backs  toward  the  camera,  or  by 
having  them  partly  covered  by  a  sleeve  or  shawl 
or  other  object,  or  by  a  combination  of  these 
methods.  A  very  decided  effort  to  pose  the 
hands,  with  several  changes  of  position,  will 
almost  always  end  in  a  stiff,  ungraceful  pos- 
ture, when  the  only  thing  to  be  done  is  to  shake 
them  loose  and  start  all  over  again,  being  care- 
ful not  to  go  too  far  the  second  time. 

It  is  often  stated  by  writers  on  portraiture 

275 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

that  modern  clothes  are  stiff  and  ungraceful 
and  consequently  unpicturesque,  but  the  pres- 
ent writer  does  not  feel  that  they  should  there- 
fore be  ignored.  Ungraceful  they  surely  are, 
as  compared  with  attire  which  has  been  worn 
at  various  times  in  the  past  (though  it  may  be 
doubted  if  any  less  graceful  fashions  ever  ex- 
isted than  those  of  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean 
days) ;  but  they  are  full  of  character,  and  the 
feeling  that  they  are  unpicturesque  probably 
arises  from  the  fact  that  Romance  is  never  what 
is  happening  but  always  what  has  happened— 
1  The  king  was  with  us — yesterday."  It  often 
happens  that  a  woman  will  wish  to  be  photo- 
graphed in  her  best  party  frock,  and  there  is 
nothing  to  do  but  to  comply  with  her  wishes, 
afterward  persuading  her,  if  possible,  to  let  her- 
self be  portrayed  in  her  everyday  clothes,  the 
latter  being  usually  more  pleasing  to  her  fam- 
ily than  the  more  formal  garments.  It  is,  how- 
ever, a  mistake  to  give  too  much  importance  to 
the  clothes,  whatever  they  may  be,  and  it  is  al- 
ways best  to  subordinate  them  to  the  sitter. 
Men's  clothes  are  generally  less  expressive  of 
the  wearer's  personality  than  women's,  and 

276 


PORTRAITURE 

may  be  still  further  subdued,  but  it  must  never 
be  forgotten  that  everyday  clothes  are  always 
in  some  degree  expressive  of  the  sitter's  per- 
sonality, evening  dress  being  stereotyped  in 
form  and  less  characteristic.  The  author's  two 
bug-bears  in  the  way  of  clothes  are  a  man's 
evening  suit  and  the  conventional  bridal  gown : 
if  there  is  anything  more  difficult  for  person- 
ality and  character  to  shine  through  than  these, 
he  has  never  encountered  it,  and,  indeed,  when 
he  meets  either  of  these  forms  of  dress  he  gen- 
erally throws  up  his  hands,  makes  a  picture  of 
the  clothes,  and  lets  it  go  at  that;  though  he 
remembers  with  feelings  of  gratitude  one  bride 
who  designed  and  made  her  own  wedding 
dress,  with  the  result  that  it  was  not  only  beau- 
tiful but  also  very  characteristic,  and  exceed- 
ingly photographable.  Some  photographers 
endeavor  to  surmount  the  difficulties  presented 
by  feminine  attire  by  making  a  bust  or  half- 
length  portrait  after  draping  the  sitter  with 
chiffon  or  some  similar  material,  but  this  is  not 
meeting  the  problem  squarely;  it  is  merely  an 
evasion,  as  much  as  vignetting  is  an  evasion  of 
the  problem  of  composition,  and  therefore  can- 
not recommend  itself  to  a  sincere  worker. 

277 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

When  it  comes  to  posing  more  than  one 
figure  the  matter  is  somewhat  different,  more 
of  the  pictorial  element  entering  into  the  task. 
A  well-known  writer  has  said  "  The  union  of  a 
single  figure  with  its  frame  will  present  about 
all  the  known  difficulties  in  composition,  and 
that  of  two  figures  a  few  extra.  With  three 
figures,  things  are  less  distracting  and  become 
more  settled."*  It  may  be  stated  absolutely  and 
definitely  that  when  two  figures  are  to  be  posed 
one  of  them  must  be  subordinated  to  the  other, 
either  by  lighting,  by  pose,  by  size  or  by  plac- 
ing within  the  frame.  The  attempt  to  give 
equal  importance  to  both  is  foredoomed  to  fail- 
ure by  the  law  which  says  "  Thou  shalt  not 
paint  two  pictures  on  one  canvas."  One  very 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem,  however, 
is  to  have  one  of  the  sitters  looking  at  the  cam- 
era and  the  other  looking  at  the  first,  another 
being  to  have  the  attention  of  both  directed 
toward  a  common  center  of  interest,  subordina- 
tion being  obtained  in  the  latter  case  by  size  or 

*  Henry  R.  Poore,  in  "  Photo  Miniature  No.  64 "  (Figure 
Composition),  a  work  which  is  recommended  to  all  who  are 
interested  in  the  subject 

278 


PORTRAITURE 

illumination.  When  three  or  more  figures  are 
to  be  combined  several  may  be  subordinated  to 
one,  and  one  of  the  most  satisfactory  solutions 
of  the  problem  that  the  writer  has  ever  seen  in 
photography  is  found  in  Miss  Gilpin's  picture, 
The  Prelude  (page  166) ,  which,  though  funda- 
mentally genre,  has  nevertheless  considerable 
portrait  value.  Mr.  Killer's  picture  (page  28) 
also  deserves  careful  attention  in  this  connection. 
When  making  large  groups,  such  as  college 
classes  or  fraternal  organizations,  the  prob- 
lem becomes  almost  entirely  one  of  pattern  and 
very  fine  opportunities  for  arrangement  fre- 
quently offer  themselves,  the  least  satisfactory 
solution  being  found  in  the  not  unusual  method 
of  placing  the  sitters  in  a  semi-circle  and  mak- 
ing the  exposure  with  a  panoramic  camera. 
This  method  has  the  sole  advantage  that  no 
member  of  the  group  is  any  less  conspicuous 
than  another.  As  to  its  artistic  value,  no  dis- 
cussion is  possible,  for  the  same  reason  that  pre- 
vents a  description  of  the  snakes  of  Iceland; 
but  it  must  be  admitted  that  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  commercial  worker  the  merit  of  the 
scheme  is  considerable,  almost  every  artist 

279 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

ing  at  times  suffered  from  the  determination 
of  each  of  the  members  of  a  group  to  have 
equal  importance  in  the  picture  space,  even 
Rembrandt's  great  picture,  The  Company  of 
Francis  Banning  Cocq — commonly  called  The 
Night  Watch — having  been  rejected  because 
it  did  not  fulfil  this  requirement.  The  writer 
at  times  finds  it  a  good  idea  to  make  two  or 
three1  negatives  of  a  group,  subordinating  dif- 
ferent individuals  in  the  different  pictures, 
when  some  of  the  sitters  will  order  prints  from 
one  of  the  plates  and  others  from  another,  unity 
being  preserved  in  all. 

The  choice  of  scale  and  of  key  is  as  important 
in  portraiture  as  in  any  other  branch  of  art,  and 
the  fundamental  thing  to  remember  is  that  our 
impression  of  a  Caucasian  includes  a  light 
(though  not  white)  face.  The  value  of  the 
skin  is  unquestionably  lower  than  that  of  white 
linen,  though,  the  face  being  of  a  yellowish 
cast,  this  value  is  not  so  dark  to  the  eye  as  to 
the  ordinary  plate.  Many  photographers,  in 
their  effort  to  secure  a  proper  relationship,  re- 
tain gradation  in,  say,  a  collar,  making  the  face 
several  shades  darker,  thus  obtaining  partial 

280 


PORTRAITURE 

truth  to  fact  at  the  cost  of  falsity  of  appear- 
ance; telling  a  small  truth  but  losing  a  greater 
one.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  yellow  is 
a  color  the  psychic  effect  of  which  is  strong, 
and  a  yellow  will  seem  lighter  to  the  eye  than  a 
blue  or  a  gray  which  reflects  the  same  amount 
of  light.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the 
writer  advocates  the  chalky,  etiolated  counte- 
nances which  are  found  in  the  work  of  the 
cheaper  studios,  but  he  does  insist  that  the  face 
should  have,  whether  by  reason  of  its  actual 
value  or  through  contrast  with  its  surround- 
ings, the  effect  of  a  light  area,  and  that  to  ren- 
der a  white  man  with  the  complexion  of  a 
mulatto  or  a  negro  is  not  good  portraiture, 
though  such  an  appearance  may  be  quite  proper 
in  genre  or  other  imaginative  work.  This  ex- 
plains the  author's  reason  for  objecting  to  the 
use  of  a  low  key  in  portrait  work. 

The  choice  of  scale  and  key  largely  influences 
the  rendering  of  character,  and  it  may  be  set 
down  as  being  generally  a  mistake  to  have  large 
areas  of  dark  in  the  portrait  of  a  child,  though, 
of  course,  spaces  of  dark  may  be  used  for  the 
sake  of  accent.  We  are  accustomed  to  associate 

281 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

brightness  and  vivacity  with  children,  and  these 
qualities  are  suggested  by  a  high-keyed  print, 
transparent  and  full  of  light,  it  being  particu- 
larly the  case  when  working  out-of-doors  that  a 
sense  of  light  and  air  is  obtained  by  means  of 
brilliant  lights  and  clear,  fully  illuminated 
shadows.  To  a  less  extent  the  same  is  true  of 
portraits  of  women,  though  here  the  scale  may 
be  extended,  more  contrast  being  used,  even  (in 
the  case  of  women  of  strong  character)  ap- 
proaching the  full-scale,  powerful  effects  which 
are  valuable  in  portraying  men.  Evidently, 
men  less  accustomed  to  commanding  positions, 
that  is,  artists,  writers,  students  and  the  like, 
approach  more  nearly  to  the  feminine  gentle- 
ness of  character,  and  they,  since  their  work  is 
more  in  the  realm  of  the  imagination,  are  gen- 
erally to  be  rendered  with  less  contrast  and 
vigor  than  those  who  have  charge  of  large  af- 
fairs. It  often  happens,  nevertheless,  that  men 
of  a  retiring  nature  have  quite  as  much  force  of 
character  as  those  of  apparently  more  vigorous 
impulses ;  each  case  must  be  treated  on  its  own 
merits,  though  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  research 
ipto  natural  phenomena  calls  for  quite  as  much 

282 


PRISCILLA 

BY  PAUL  L.  ANDERSON 

From  a  Bromide  Enlargement 


PORTRAITURE 

concentration  and  determination  as  the  com- 
mand of  an  army,  so  that  a  scientist  is  likely  to 
have  as  strongly  marked  a  face  as  a  general.  It 
might  be  supposed  that  Mrs.  Kasebier's  print, 
The  Bride  (page  254) , is  in  contravention  of  the 
principle  of  adapting  the  key  of  the  picture  to 
the  style  of  the  subject,  for  here  is  an  individual 
commonly  associated  with  brightness  and  cheer- 
fulness who  is  nevertheless  reproduced  in  great 
masses  of  dark.  Consideration  will  show,  how- 
ever, that  the  artist  has  elected  to  give  us  an 
archetype  rather  than  a  particular  bride;  she 
has  shown  the  main  organic  lines  of  the  subject, 
and  the  result  is  a  picture  rather  than  a  por- 
trait— proving  once  more,  if  proof  were  neces- 
sary, that  there  are  no  rules  in  art.  The  four 
portraits  by  the  author  (pages  16,  240,  280, 
292)  are  given  for  the  sake  of  illustrating  this 
matter  of  scale  and  key,  and  the  reader  may  also 
profitably  study  the  one  by  Miss  Collier  (page 
268)  in  this  connection,  as  well  as  the  genre  pic- 
tures by  Miss  Gilpin,  Mr.  White  and  Mr. 
Hiller  (pages  166,  140  and  28). 

The  matter  of  atmosphere  is  largely  bound 
up  with  the  question  of  scale,  though  the  back- 

283 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

ground  and  accessories  have  also  considerable 
influence.  The  ideal  of  the  untrained  observer 
is  that  the  figure  should  "  stand  out,"  that  is, 
appear  to  be  in  relief,  but,  as  Whistler  re- 
marked, it  is  more  important  that  it  should 
"  stand  in  " — i.e.,  keep  its  place  solidly  within 
the  frame,  though  not  too  solidly.  A  painter 
was  once  showing  a  picture  to  a  friend  and 
inquired: 

"  Well,  old  man,  how  do  you  like  my '  Wood 
Nymphs'?" 

"Fine!  "was  the  reply.  "Fine!  They  look 
as  if  they  were  actually  made  of  wood!  " 

Our  portraits  should  not  look  as  if  they  were 
incapable  of  moving  out  of  the  frame,  but 
rather  as  though  they  could  move  if  they  liked, 
but  preferred  to  stay  where  we  have  put  them. 
It  is  desirable  that  there  should  seem  to  be  a 
very  definite  and  appreciable  depth  of  air  both 
in  front  of  and  behind  the  figure,  and  devices 
innumerable  are  employed  to  secure  this  effect. 
The  figure  may  be  attached  to  the  frame  by  its 
own  lines,  by  the  lines  of  furniture  or  acces- 
sories in  the  background,  by  a  background  gra- 
dation, or  by  a  combination  of  these  methods, 

284 


PORTRAITURE 

examples  being  found  in  the  accompanying 
illustrations,  which  show  all  the  means  enum- 
erated. The  custom  so  often  followed  of  plac- 
ing a  light  portion  of  the  figure  against  a  dark 
background  area,  and  vice  versa,  is  generally 
destructive  of  atmosphere,  causing  spottiness 
and  making  the  figure  "jumpy";  but  a  re- 
versal of  the  process,  in  which  a  light  area 
grades  into  a  light  background,  and  dark  into 
dark,  is  productive  of  great  breadth  and  solid- 
ity. The  use  of  what  is  termed  the  "  lost  and 
found  outline,"  where  the  edges  of  the  figure 
merge  into  the  background,  appearing  again 
by  reason  of  contrast  as  we  follow  them  around 
the  picture  space,  also  gives  breadth  and  firm- 
ness, and  effectually  serves  to  connect  the 
figure  with  the  frame,  being  probably  the 
strongest  of  all  methods  for  securing  the  desired 
holding  of  the  picture  within  the  space  assigned 
to  it.  A  sense  of  atmosphere  is  often  obtained 
through  the  use  of  leading  lines  conducting  the 
eye  back  into  the  picture,  and  a  foreground  ob- 
ject is  at  times  employed  to  set  the  figure  back, 
though  this  device  savors  rather  of  cheapness 
and  sensationalism,  a  proper  adjustment  of 

285 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

values  being  preferable  when  it  is  desired  to 
secure  a  sense  of  air  between  the  spectator  and 
the  sitter.  A  background  object  nearly  lost  in 
shadow,  or  indistinct  in  outline,  is  often  valu- 
able in  making  clear  that  there  is  space  between 
the  sitter  and  the  background,  but  whatever 
methods  are  used  for  securing  atmosphere,  the 
artist  will  take  care  so  to  balance  one  thing  with 
another  that  the  machinery  is  not  apparent  ex- 
cept on  careful  examination,  only  the  finished 
result  being  ordinarily  seen. 

The  fundamental  principles  of  composition, 
of  course,  hold  good  in  portraiture  as  in  all 
other  work,  and  it  is  of  primary  importance  to 
remember  two  facts :  the  first  is  that  a  portrait 
should  also  be  a  picture,  and  the  second  is  that 
it  should  be  a  portrait  first  and  a  picture  after- 
ward. These  facts  have  already  been  stated, 
but  it  can  do  no  harm  to  repeat  them,  lest  the 
worker  be  led  astray  by  examples  which  do  not 
conform  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  art, 
these  requiring  unity  and  sincerity  to  be  pres- 
ent above  and  beyond  all  other  considerations. 

There  are  several  courses  of  study  open  to 
the  portrait  worker  and  necessary  to  his  suc- 

•    286 


PORTRAITURE 

cess  in  his  chosen  field.  It  has  already  been 
pointed  out  that  he  should  possess  a  broad  gen- 
eral education  in  order  that  he  may  converse 
intelligently  with  the  sitter.  There  is  a  deeper 
reason  than  this,  however,  for  such  advice,  since 
any  study  which  tends  to  broaden  a  man's  mind 
will  necessarily  make  him  a  better  artist, 
whether  it  be  science,  literature,  art,  music,  po- 
litical economy  or  any  other  possible  subject. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  a  specialist  need 
be  conversant  with  one  thing  only;  the  artist 
who  does  the  best  work  will  be  found  to  belong 
to  the  ancient  and  honorable  guild  of  Jacks- 
of-all-trades,  reserving,  however,  the  privilege 
of  being  master  of  one.  He  may  take  for  his 
model  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  who  was  painter, 
sculptor,  mathematician,  silversmith,  architect, 
mechanical,  civil,  hydraulic  and  military  engi- 
neer, musician  and  athlete — though  it  may  be 
doubted  if  any  photographer  is  likely  soon  to 
rival  the  great  Italian  in  his  manifold  activities. 
The  writer  spent  four  years  in  college,  gradu- 
ating with  an  engineering  degree,  and  though 
it  is  more  than  a  decade  since  he  has  followed 
that  profession  he  finds  the  knowledge  and  the 

287 


4 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

habits  of  mind  then  acquired  to  be  of  inesti- 
mable advantage  in  his  present  work. 

As  to  the  studies  directly  connected  with  the 
work  of  portraiture,  it  may  be  taken  for 
granted  that  the  photographer  will  be  a  capa- 
ble technician,  since  it  is  useless  to  endeavor  to 
express  ideas  unless  one  possesses  the  vocabu- 
lary necessary,  but  this  is  no  more  than  a  foun- 
dation. The  works  of  the  great  masters  of 
portraiture — in  particular,  Rembrandt,  Velas- 
quez, Reynolds,  Gainsborough,  Raeburn  and 
Sargent — should  receive  careful  attention  for 
character  expression,  chiaroscuro  and  pattern ; 
and  in  photography  the  camera  worker  may 
profitably  study  the  prints  of  such  artists  as 
Gertrude  Kasebier,  D.  O.  Hill,  Frank  Eugene, 
Clarence  White  and  Eugene  Hutchinson.  It 
will  probably  be  better  to  study  the  works  of 
the  painters  in  black-and-white  reproductions, 
rather  than  in  the  original,  the  disturbing  ele- 
ment of  color  being  thus  eliminated,  but  care 
should  be  taken  to  see  that  the  reproductions 
are  good  ones,  or  the  values  may  be  sadly  falsi- 
fied, thus  nullifying  the  attention  paid  them,  or 
even  leading  the  student  astray.  The  best  sub- 

288 


PORTRAITURE 

ject  of  study,  though,  is  one's  fellowmen  and 
women,  for  unless  these  receive  due  attention 
facility  in  character  expression  cannot  be  at- 
tained, and  this  subject,  as  has  been  said,  can 
be  studied  at  all  times.  It  is  an  excellent  plan 
for  the  photographer  to  regard  each  portrait 
that  he  makes  in  the  light  of  a  study,  and 
though  making  some  negatives  at  each  sitting 
in  a  style  with  which  he  is  familiar,  to  make  also 
two  or  three  purely  experimental  ones,  as 
studies  in  light  or  pose  or  expression.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  tell  the  sitter  that  this  is  being 
done,  though  it  may  sometimes  be  well  to  do  so, 
an  intelligent  person  being  impressed  by  the 
photographer's  desire  for  excellence  and  co- 
operating well  in  the  effort;  whereas  one  of 
lower  mentality  is  apt  to  feel  that  the  special- 
ist should  be  master  of  the  subject,  beyond  the 
need  of  further  study — not  realizing  the  im- 
possibility of  such  a  state  of  affairs  in  any 
branch  of  human  achievement. 

It  occasionally  happens  that  one's  calcula- 
tions will  be  upset  in  most  astonishing  fashion. 
The  writer  was  recently  called  upon  to  make 
a  portrait  of  a  young  actress,  and  exposed 

19  289 


PINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

twelve  plates,  seven  of  them  being  in  accord- 
ance with  his  best  ideals  of  portraiture,  the 
other  five  purely  arrangements  in  light  and 
shade,  done  for  his  own  satisfaction  and  carry- 
ing practically  no  portrait  element  whatever. 
On  seeing  the  results  the  sitter  chose  the  five 
"  arrangements  "  and  one  of  the  portraits ! 

One  recommendation  on  which  the  author 
would  lay  great  stress  is  to  the  effect  that  the 
portrait  worker  occasionally  make  an  excursion 
into  the  domain  of  landscape  or  genre,  or  some 
other  phase  of  his  art.  Few  if  any  of  the  great 
artists  have  confined  themselves  exclusively  to 
one  form  of  expression,  since  they  understood 
that  the  artist,  like  the  athlete,  is  liable  to  grow 
stale,  and  that,  again  like  the  athlete,  he  is 
rested  and  his  vigor  is  renewed  by  a  change  of 
occupation.  Sooner  or  later  the  man  who  sticks 
to  one  thing  will  find  himself  falling  off  in 
power,  and  no  amount  of  effort  or  determina- 
tion will  recall  the  lagging  energies  to  their 
proper  pitch ;  this  can  only  be  accomplished  by 
rest  and  diversion,  and  the  writer  feels  that 
every  man,  especially  the  one  whose  work  in- 
volves the  nervous  tension  necessary  in  art, 

290 


PORTRAITURE 

should  take  an  interest  in  athletics  of  some  sort. 
He  personally  makes  a  point  of  taking  several 
hours  each  week  to  box,  swim  or  play  hand- 
ball. Failing  this,  the  portrait  worker  should 
unquestionably  get  out-of-doors  with  his  cam- 
era occasionally  and  spend  some  time  doing 
landscape  work  or  other  photography  not  al- 
lied to  portraiture,  for  he  will  thus  be  enabled 
to  return  to  his  chosen  field  with  renewed  inter- 
est and  enthusiasm. 


XII 

THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  HAND  CAMERA 
THERE  are  two  fundamental  ways  of  pro- 
ceeding to  the  making  of  pictures  by  photog- 
raphy, each  method  having  its  adherents  among 
pictorialists  of  the  first  rank,  and  these  two 
forms  of  approach  may,  simply  as  a  matter  of 
differentiation,  be  called  the  view  camera 
method  and  the  hand  camera  method,  since  the 
advocates  of  the  two  plans  ordinarily  make  use 
of  these  types  of  apparatus. 

In  the  first  method,  the  artist  has  carefully 
thought  out  his  picture  beforehand;  perhaps 
even,  if  he  be  a  genre  worker,  making  several 
rough  sketches  showing  various  arrangements 
of  masses  and  lighting,  and  possible  disposi- 
tions of  the  figures.  Or,  if  his  interest  be  in 
landscape,  he  has  tramped  many  times  over  the 
portion  of  the  country  where  he  may  be,  select- 
ing locations  and  determining  the  time  of  year, 
the  hour,  and  the  quality  of  light  which  will 
best  serve  to  convey  the  idea  which  he  wishes 
to  express.  Then,  when  the  time  comes  to 

292 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  HAND  CAMERA 

translate  his  thought  into  a  picture,  he  goes 
ahead  with  decision  and  certainty,  and  makes 
one  or  two  exposures.  These  are  developed  and 
printed,  and  the  prints  are  studied  with  care. 
Sometimes  it  will  be  found  that  a  slight  amount 
of  modification,  which  can  be  done  on  the  nega- 
tive or  the  print,  will  serve  to  pull  the  picture 
together  and  give  a  satisfactory  result;  and 
sometimes  the  whole  thing  will  be  recon- 
structed. More  often  still  the  print  will  be 
found  to  be  complete  and  to  need  no  further 
attention.  Whichever  may  be  the  case,  this 
method  essentially  involves  careful  preliminary 
consideration,  and  is  as  a  rule  carried  out  by 
means  of  a  tripod  camera  of  relatively  large 
size,  6y2XSy29  8X10,  or  even  at  time  11X14; 
and  the  photographers  who  follow  this  plan 
generally  print  direct  rather  than  enlarge,  for 
a  reason  which  will  be  discussed  later. 

In  the  other  method,  the  artist  does  not  pre- 
pare himself  with  the  same  care,  but  chooses 
an  approximate  location  and  arrangement,  or 
sometimes  even  goes  out  with  his  camera,  having 
no  settled  idea  of  what  he  wishes  to  express. 
He  makes  numerous  exposures,  with  slight 

293 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

changes  in  the  arrangement  of  the  figures,  the 
timing  or  the  point  of  view — occasionally,  even, 
several  identical  exposures  are  made,  with  the 
purpose  of  giving  different  after-treatment — 
and  these  plates  are  developed  and  printed,  a 
selection  being  made  from  the  set,  the  negative 
chosen  being  usually  enlarged,  and,  if  neces- 
sary, modified  by  hand.  The  followers  of  this 
method  generally  use  hand  cameras,  often  of 
the  reflecting  type,  and  make  a  great  number 
of  exposures,  a  notable  instance  being  in  the 
case  of  a  well-known  pictorialist  who  once  vis- 
ited the  writer  at  the  latter's  country  home, 
and  between  his  arrival  at  Saturday  noon  and 
his  departure  at  8:30  A.M.  on  the  following 
Wednesday  exposed  fourteen  dozen  plates, 
three  dozen  of  these  being  exposed  on  one  ar- 
rangement of  two  trees  and  two  figures.  This 
averages  something  over  three  and  one-half 
dozen  plates  a  day,  and  when  it  is  added  that 
they  were  all  exposed  within  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  of  the  house  it  will  be  seen  that  there  must 
necessarily  have  been  considerable  approximate 
repetition;  no  country  affords  that  many  to- 
tally different  subjects  in  the  area  indicated. 

294 


PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.  GEORGE  B.  HOLLISTEB 
BY  PAUL  L.  ANDERSON 
From  a  Bromoil  Enlargement 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  HAND  CAMERA 

It  will  be  understood  that  the  many  exposures 
required  in  marine  work  are  not  attributable 
to  the  same  mental  attitude  as  that  here  indi- 
cated, but  are  necessitated  by  the  impossibility 
of  predicting  accurately  the  form  which  will  be 
taken  by  any  given  wave,  in  conjunction  with 
the  necessity  (imposed  by  the  muscular  and 
mechanical  lag)  of  tripping  the  shutter  slightly 
before  the  wave  has  reached  its  final  form. 

The  author  recently  saw  a  discussion  by  an 
eminent  worker  of  the  first  class,  in  which  the 
artist  in  question  declaimed  against  the  second 
method  of  work,  demanding  to  know  why  it 
should  be  necessary  to  make  a  lot  of  negatives 
and  throw  away  nine-tenths  of  them,  and  ac- 
cusing the  workers  of  the  class  to  which  he  did 
not  belong  of  carelessness,  wastefulness  and 
over-production.  Yet  when  we  come  to  con- 
sider thoughtfully  the  relative  merits  of  the 
two  methods  it  is  found  to  be  the  case  that 
neither  of  them  can  be  regarded  as  absolutely 
the  best,  or  can  be  recommended  above  the 
other,  since  they  are  not  merely  different  tech- 
nical processes,  but  arise  from  fundamental 
psychic  variations  in  the  persons  employing 

295 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

them — though,  of  course,  either  can  be  carried 
to  excess,  and  whichever  is  used  it  must  be  to 
some  degree  under  the  control  of  the  photog- 
rapher's will.  That  is,  the  worker  of  the  first 
class  must  permit  himself  more  or  less  response 
to  impressions  received  at  the  time  of  making 
the  exposure,  and  the  other  must  compare  the 
subject,  in  its  various  changes,  with  the  condi- 
tions which  have  preceded  those  of  the  instant, 
refraining  at  times  from  exposing  a  plate  and 
making  suggestions  for  further  changes  which 
he  thinks  will  afford  better  results.  However, 
the  first  class  ordinarily  comprises  individuals 
of  a  calm  and  reflective  temperament,  given 
to  meditation,  and  interested  in  delicate  tonal 
relationships,  this  latter  characteristic  being  the 
source  of  the  observed  inclination  to  make  di- 
rect prints,  since  fine  gradations  are  sometimes 
lost  in  the  process  of  enlarging  or  making  en- 
larged negatives.  On  the  other  hand,  the  work- 
ers who  follow  the  second  method  are  more 
apt  to  be  highly  organized  and  of  a  nervous 
and  impetuous  temperament,  impatient  of 
restraint  and  eager  for  action,  preferring  to 
make  their  selection  from  a  set  of  concrete 

296 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  HAND  CAMERA 

images  in  the  form  of  prints  rather  than 
from  the  abstract  mental  pictures  which  they 
call  up  by  an  effort  of  the  imagination. 
These  artists  are  more  interested  in  the  thing 
said  than  in  the  manner  of  saying  it,  they 
care  more  for  pictorial  strength  than  for  aesthet- 
icism,  they  admire  Rembrandt  and  Velasquez 
more  than  Whistler,  and  Charles  Reade  more 
than  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  so  they  fre- 
quently enlarge  and  print  in  oil  or  bromoil  or 
gum  rather  than  make  direct  prints  in  plat- 
inum. Each  photographer  must  determine  for 
himself  which  style  of  expression  best  suits  his 
own  needs,  and  it  is  well  for  him  to  try  both 
plans.  It  may  take  him  some  time  to  decide — 
it  took  the  writer  about  seven  years  to  reach  a 
final  decision — but  it  will  be  time  well  spent, 
since  the  knowledge  acquired  in  either  mode 
will  prove  useful  when  working  in  the  other, 
and  the  tendencies  developed  when  working  in 
either  style  operate  as  restraints  when  the  other 
is  taken  up,  thus  minimizing  the  characteristic 
faults  of  the  selected  method. 

Another  fact  which  deserves  consideration  in 
this  connection  is  that,  in  colloquial  phrase,  "  it 

297 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

is  hard  to  start  on  a  cold  collar."  Whichever 
method  one  adopts,  he  must,  as  has  been  said, 
remain  open  to  immediate  impressions,  he  must 
be  able  to  appreciate  and  to  seize  suggestions 
arising  from  a  chance  play  of  light  or  a  fortu- 
itous pose,  and  it  is  unquestionably  the  case  that 
one  is  not  so  receptive  on  first  starting  work  as 
he  is  after  making  several  exposures.  Appa- 
rently the  mind  requires  something  akin  to  the 
warming-up  an  athlete  goes  through  prior  to 
his  greatest  effort,  and  probably  every  pho- 
tographer has  found  that  his  best  negatives  are 
those  made  along  toward  the  end  of  the  series — 
it  has  not  infrequently  happened  to  the  writer 
to  see  the  best  arrangement  of  the  day  shortly 
after  exposing  his  last  plate!  The  process  of 
selecting  and  deciding  on  arrangements  tends 
to  quicken  the  perceptions  and  stimulate  the 
imagination,  and  though  some  workers  may  be 
able  to  warm  up  by  making  pseudo-exposures 
— tripping  the  shutter  without  drawing  the 
slide —  the  writer  finds  that  this  is  not  success- 
ful with  everyone.  In  fact,  probably  every 
photographer  will  work  himself  into  the  desired 
frame  of  mind  better  if  he  makes  bona-fide  ex- 

298 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  HAND  CAMERA 

posures,  and  the  advantage  of  the  hand  camera 
when  striving  for  this  psychic  condition  is  so 
apparent  as  to  need  no  further  comment. 

There  is  a  further  factor  entering  into  the 
use  of  the  hand  camera,  but  this  has  to  do  with 
mechanical  rather  than  with  mental  considera- 
tions. It  is  not  easy  to  carry  a  large  camera 
~when  traveling  or  to  set  it  up  when  a  chance 
impression  offers  itself,  and  in  such  cases  the 
hand  camera  will  prove  exceedingly  useful.  It 
is  all  very  well  for  the  followers  of  the  con- 
templative method  to  say  that  they  do  not  care 
to  make  use  of  chance  impressions,  but  it  is 
nevertheless  the  case  that  fortune  at  times 
offers  magnificent  opportunities  which  unless 
seized  on  the  instant  are  gone  forever.  One  of 
the  author's  best  negatives,  a  picture  which  is 
very  successful  from  the  dramatic  and  pictorial 
standpoint,  was  secured  from  the  deck  of  a 
ferryboat,  and  includes  a  sea  gull  flying  at  high 
speed  across  the  field  of  view.  It  would  have 
been  utterly  out  of  the  question  to  operate  a 
view  camera  rapidly  enough  to  secure  this  pic- 
ture; indeed,  it  could  not  have  been  got  even 
with  a  hand  camera  had  it  not  been  that  the 

299 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

writer  was  considering  photographing  the  scene 
when  the  bird  appeared,  and  was  able  to  press 
the  trigger  at  precisely  the  right  instant.  Of 
course,  it  was  pure  chance  that  afforded  this 
picture ;  it  was  one  of  the  perfect  arrangements 
of  viewpoint,  atmosphere,  sea  and  sky — not  to 
mention  the  gull — that  could  happen  but  once 
in  a  lifetime,  but  the  picture  is  none  the  less  a 
success.  In  "  Micah  Clarke,"  Decimus  Saxon 
describes  a  duel  in  which  a  young  and  inexperi- 
enced swordsman  smote  his  expert  opponent 
across  the  face  with  his  rapier,  which  unusual 
act  so  took  the  latter  aback  that  ere  he  recov- 
ered from  his  astonishment  the  youngster 
killed  him.  "  Doubtless,"  says  Saxon,  "  if  the 
matter  were  to  do  again  the  Oberhauptmann 
would  have  got  his  thrust  in  sooner,  but,  as  it 
was,  no  explanation  or  excuse  could  get  over 
the  fact  that  the  man  was  dead."  In  like  man- 
ner, no  argument  on  the  part  of  the  deliberate 
workers  can  get  over  the  fact  that  here  is  a 
picture,  and  that  it  could  have  been  obtained 
in  no  other  way. 

The  advantages  of  the  hand  camera  for  rec- 
ord work  when  traveling  are  so  obvious  as  to 
need  no  enumeration,  and  the  argument  ad- 

300 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  HAND  CAMERA 

vanced  by  the  workers  of  the  view  camera  class, 
as  to  the  greater  number  of  adjustments  pos- 
sessed by  their  instruments,  is  not,  in  the 
writer's  opinion,  fully  substantiated  in  practice. 
The  author  has  used  a  four  by  five  reflecting 
camera  for  several  years,  for  landscape,  por- 
traiture and  illustration,  and  has  not  found 
himself  seriously  hampered  by  the  lack  of  a 
swing-back.  There  have,  it  is  true,  been  times 
when  it  would  have  proved  a  convenience,  but 
this  adjustment  is  by  no  means  so  necessary  on 
a  small  camera  as  on  a  large  one,  and  it  has 
always  been  possible  to  do  without  it,  with  no 
loss  of  pictorial  quality. 

It  may,  however,  be  of  interest  to  inquire 
into  the  relative  expense  of  the  two  methods 
of  working,  and  the  writer  does  not  find  that 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  difference  in  this  re- 
spect. The  user  of  an  8X10  camera  will  gen- 
erally make  at  least  two  exposures  on  a  given 
subject,  and  so  far  as  plates  are  concerned  seven 
or  eight  4X5  negatives  can  be  made  for  the 
same  cost.  When  it  comes  to  printing,  three  or 
four  platinum  prints  —  often  more  —  will  be 
made  from  the  8X10  plate,  which  will  about 
offset  the  cost  of  eight  4X5  gas-light  prints  and 

301 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

one  11X14  or  14X17  bromide  or  bromoil.  If 
the  large  print  is  to  be  in  oil  or  platinum  or 
gum,  the  expense  will  be  greater,  since  in  that 
case  there  will  also  be  required  a  4X5  transpar- 
ency and  a  large  negative,  but  if  bromide  or 
bromoil  is  used  there  is  little  choice.  There  is 
little  difference  in  the  time  consumed  by  the 
two  methods,  the  consideration  and  reflection 
of  the  first  type  of  worker  being  about  on  a  par 
with  that  given  by  the  second  to  selecting  from 
among  his  proofs  and  to  possible  modifications. 
If  the  latter  prints  in  bromide  he  probably  has 
some  slight  advantage  over  the  other  in  the  mat- 
ter of  time,  but  if  he  prefers  gum,  oil  or  bromoil, 
the  choice  lies  somewhat  the  other  way.  How- 
ever, the  difference  is  in  no  case  great,  and 
should  not  influence  anyone  to  adopt  a  form  of 
expression  not  suited  to  his  inclinations. 

As  to  the  artistic  quality  of  the  results,  there 
is  absolutely  no  choice  whatever  between  the 
two  modes  of  approaching  the  problem,  this 
depending  entirely  on  the  artist's  imaginative 
power,  technical  skill,  sensitiveness  and  artis- 
tic conscientiousness,  though  it  may  be  said 
that  the  photographer  of  the  second  class  is 

302 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  HAND  CAMERA 

generally  more  prolific  than  the  other.  It  is 
doubtful,  though,  if  the  manner  of  working  has 
anything  to  do  with  this ;  it  probably  arises  from 
the  fact  that  the  nervous,  highly  sensitized  indi- 
vidual is  more  prolific  of  ideas  and  has  more 
driving  force  than  the  more  reflective  type.  In 
each  case  there  is  a  danger  to  be  guarded 
against.  The  first  worker  is  apt  to  become  nig- 
gling, meticulous  and  over-interested  in  mere 
gestheticism ;  the  second  runs  the  risk  of  grow- 
ing careless  in  his  artistic  grammar,  of  paying 
too  little  attention  to  values  and  gradations,  and 
relying  too  much  on  the  inherent  force  of  his 
ideas.  The  writer  has  seen  many  promising 
workers  brought  to  grief  by  one  or  the  other 
of  these  two  pitfalls,  so  that  they  failed  to  fulfil 
the  hopes  they  once  held  out,  and  he  would 
suggest  that  each  photographer  strive  to  culti- 
vate an  admiration  for  the  style  in  which  he 
does  not  work.  By  this  means  he  will  not  only 
retain  the  purity  of  his  artistic  conscientious- 
ness and  avoid  becoming  a  mere  stylist,  but  he 
will  also  attain  that  broadminded  and  liberal 
vision  without  which  no  man  can  achieve  true 
greatness  in  any  branch  of  human  activity. 

303 


XIII 
CONCLUSION 

THE  author  has  many  times,  both  orally  and 
in  his  writings,  said  that  it  is  possible  for  a 
photographer  to  become  interested  in  mere 
technique  to  the  detriment  of  his  artistic  expres- 
sion, and  in  the  present  book  will  be  found  a 
statement  by  Mr.  Wentworth  to  the  effect  that 
"  of  technic  enough  is  better  than  more."  But 
this  question  deserves  some  further  considera- 
tion. It  is  doubtful  if  any  artist  can  ever  have 
enough  technical  knowledge;  problems  are  con- 
stantly arising  which  demand  acquaintance 
with  various  processes  other  than  the  accus- 
tomed ones,  and  the  worker  of  limited  knowl- 
edge must  leave  such  problems  unsolved  or  be 
only  partly  successful  in  their  treatment.  Fur- 
ther, it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  skilful 
technician  could,  had  he  chosen  the  other  path, 
have  become  a  great  artist.  Some  psycholo- 
gists insist  that  each  mind  has  its  own  definite 
inherent  capabilities,  and  can  find  its  fullest 

304 


CONCLUSION 

development  only  along  the  lines  so  indicated. 
The  author  does  not  share  this  belief,  but  ad- 
mits that  arguments  may  be  advanced  in  sup- 
port of  it.  At  all  events,  it  is  certain  that  the 
worker  who  devotes  his  entire  attention  to  tech- 
nical processes  must  necessarily  ignore  the 
studies  requisite  to  full  artistic  expression,  and 
that  each  photographer  must  determine  for 
himself  where  lies  the  balance. 

It  is  a  common — almost  a  universal — error 
to  suppose  that  knowledge  can  be  taught.  No 
person  living  can  teach  another  anything  what- 
ever; all  knowledge,  wisdom  and  skill  must 
come  through  a  voluntary  eff ort  on  the  part  of 
the  student.  ,  The  most  that  the  teacher  can 
do  is  to  stimulate,  to  suggest,  and  to  point  out 
errors,  and  this  is  most  conspicuously  the  case 
where  the  faculties  of  reason  and  imagination 
are  called  upon  to  function.  The  teacher  can 
make  statements  to  be  memorized  by  the  stu- 
dent (even  here  the  latter  must  exert  himself) 
but  when  it  becomes  necessary  for  the  student 
to  employ  his  logical  powers  or  his  imagination, 
to  develop  his  powers  of  observation,  or  to  ac- 
quire manipulative  skill,  he  must  travel  alone. 

20  305 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Further,  artistic  perception,  appreciation 
and  expression  are  not  definite  things ;  they 
depend  to  a  great  extent  on  personal  taste  and 
preference,  on  individual  likes  and  dislikes, 
and  on  the  general  mental  development  not 
only  of  the  artist  but  of  those  to  whom  he  ap- 
Js.  jTechnique  is  a  matter  of  pure  science: 
we  can  say:  "  If  we  do  thus  and  so,  such  and 
such  results  will  follow,"  and  we  may  be  sure 
that  these  results  will  always  and  inevitably 
be  the  consequence  of  the  original  act.  Noth- 
ing of  the  kind  is  possible  in  art;  manifold  ef- 
fects may  follow  from  one  and  the  same  cause, 
for  no  two  human  minds  are  precisely  alike, 
and  the  most  that  the  artist  can  say  is:  "  This 
work  will  have  a  certain  effect  on  those  minds 
which  resemble  my  own  sufficiently  to  receive 
from  external  objects  the  same  impressions 
that  I  do,  or  impressions  similar  to  mine.2 

For  these  reasons  the  author  has  made  no 
attempt  to  follow  the  lines  of  his  former  book, 
"  Pictorial  Photography,  Its  Principles  and 
Practice."  He  has  not  endeavored  to  give  def- 
inite instructions  for  the  production  of  definite 
results,  as  was  possible  in  the  earlier  work ;  such 

306 


LEYLET  EL  WAHSHAH 
BY  H.  Y.  SUMMONS 

From  a  Carbon  Print 


CONCLUSION 

an  attempt  would  have  been  foredoomed  to 
failure,  or  at  best  could  have  been  productive 
only  of  a  stereotyped,  machine-made  and  ster- 
ile expression  among  those  photographers  who 
followed  the  instructions  given.  Instead  of 
giving  such  instruction  the  author  has  chosen 
rather  to  state  the  fundamental  principles  upon 
which  all  graphic  art  is  based,  and  has  consis- 
tently endeavored  to  stimulate  his  readers  to 
the  exercise  and  development  of  their  own  men- 
tal powers,  to  the  end  that,  whatever  work 
shall  be  theirs,  it  may  be  a  free  and  spontaneous 
expression  of  the  love  of  beauty  which,  though 
at  times  dormant,  is  none  the  less  inherent  in 
every  individual;  of  the  desire  to  awaken  in 
others  this  love;  and  of  the  greatest  motive 
which  can  animate  the  human  soul,  a  deep  and 
sincere  wish  to  be  of  benefit  to  one's  f  ellowmen. 
Those  readers  who  look  to  find  here  a  formula 
for  the  production  of  works  of  art  will  be  disap- 
pointed, but  the  author  hopes  and  believes  that 
anyone  approaching  this  book  in  the  spirit  in 
which  it  is  written  will  find  it  helpful,  and  will 
be  encouraged  and  aided  in  his  efforts  to  con- 
tribute some  share,  whether  great  or  small,  to 

307 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

the  eternal  and  inevitable  upward  march  and 
growth  of  life. 

The  one  fundamental  and  unfailing  law  upon 
which  the  life  of  this  world  ( and  probably  that 
of  other  worlds  as  well)  is  based  is  that  of 
progress ;  an  individual,  a  nation,  a  race,  a  spe- 
cies which  does  not  contribute  to  this  progress 
is  unhesitatingly  eliminated  by  the  forces  of 
nature,  and  only  those  which  have  some  contri- 
bution to  offer  are  preserved.  We  observe  this 
fact  not  only  in  the  historical  records  which  we 
have,  but  we  find  it  manifested  also  in  the  case 
of  prehistoric  species  and  genera,  so  that  we 
are  forced  to  conclude  the  law  to  be  everywhere 
and  at  all  times  operative.  From  this  con- 
clusion follow  two  others  of  importance  to  the 
artist :  The  first  is  that  he  may  never  relax  his 
efforts,  may  never  feel  that  his  knowledge  is 
sufficient,  under  pain  of  retrograding  in  his 
powers  of  vision  and  of  expression;  he  must 
always  work,  and  must  always  endeavor  to  im- 
prove, in  order  to  maintain  his  position  and  his 
ability — whoso  does  not  advance  falls  back. 
The  other  inference  is  greater  than  this,  and  has 
to  do  with  the  artist's  responsibility.  jThe  desire 

308  I — 


CONCLUSION 

for  artistic  expression  is  one  of  the  earliest  de- 
sires to  awaken  as  a  race  develops  beyond  the 
daily  needs  of  food  and  shelter,  and  the  artist 
stands  side  by  side  with  the  scientist  in  guiding, 
directing  and  stimulating  his  fellows  in  their 
voyage  from  darkness  into  light. 

Indeed,  it  is  probable  that  art  comes  before 
science,  and  it  is  known  that  Palaeolithic  men 
have  felt  the  desire  for  graphic  expression, 
drawings — and  by  no  means  discreditable  ones 
— being  found  among  the  relics  of  races  which 
existed  twenty  thousand  years  ago,  and  ante- 
dating (being,  in  fact,  the  precursors  of)  the 
hieroglyphics  which  are  the  earliest  form  of 
writing.  These  Palaeolithic  and  Neolithic  men 
were  not  only  draughtsmen,  but  were  sculptors 
as  well,  and  some  of  their  figures  are  suffi- 
ciently well  done  to  indicate  a  higher  stage  of 
mental  development  in  their  makers  than  does 
the  Cubist  sculpture  of  the  present  day,  which, 
indeed,  may  possibly  represent  a  reversion  to 
a  pithecoid  mentality,  if  we  employ  such  a 
phrase.  It  follows,  then,  that  a  tremendous 
responsibility  devolves  upon  the  artist,  who, 
so  far  from  being,  as  many  people  seem  to 

309 


FINE  ART  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY 

think,  a  mere  parasite,  an  amuser,  is  actually  a 
leader  of  thought  and  a  teacher  of  mankind. 
Art  is  not  a  study  to  be  undertaken  lightly, 
nor  is  it  a  work  to  be  followed  "  in  jesting 
guise." 

It  is,  however,  a  mistake  to  say,  as  some  do, 
that  the  artist  should  be  indifferent  to  money 
and  to  fame ;  it  is  right  that  one  who  gives  us 
something  of  value,  whether  material  or  psy- 
chic, should  receive  a  suitable  return,  and  the 
desire  for  the  applause  of  one's  fellows  is  a 
normal  human  instinct.  Of  course,  the  artist 
may  become  excessively  greedy  of  financial  re- 
ward or  of  renown,  but  this  danger  is  common 
to  all  men,  and  must  be  guarded  against  by  a 
proper  mental  balance.  Further,  it  is  not  nec- 
essary that  the  worker  devote  his  entire  time  to 
art.  It  is  desirable  that  he  do  so  if  possible,  and 
the  so  doing  will  self -evidently  result  in  a 
greater  development  of  his  powers;  but  if  the 
exigencies  of  his  daily  life  prevent,  and  he  still 
wishes  to  do  what  he  can  in  the  time  at  hand, 
this  also  is  well,  for  many  a  man  who  was  so 
restricted  has  nevertheless  made  valuable  con- 
tributions to  the  sum  of  human  knowledge. 

310 


CONCLUSION 

But  whether  art  be  a  vocation  or  an  avocation, 
a  life-work  or  a  relaxation  from  daily  labor,  it 
should  be  undertaken  soberly,  seriously,  and 
with  the  determination  that  we  will  do  this 
thing  as  well  as  in  us  lies,  for  only  thus  can  we 
deserve  well  of  our  fellows.  LThe  artist  who  it 
jstoops  to  do  meretricious  work  because  he  is  | 
well  paid,  the  one  who  lightly  accepts  the  easy  " 
beauty  because  the  greater  thing  is  difficult — 
these  men  are  to  be  pitied,  for  they  have  indeed 
sold  their  souls  for  a  few  pieces  of  silver  or, 
worse  yet,  for  their  personal  ease.  Only  that 
man  is  truly  fortunate  who  gives  his  best  at 
all  times,  who  unceasingly  labors  for  the  finest 
that  he  can  see  or  dream.  He  may  miss  the 
financial  reward  or  the  praise  of  the  multitude, 
but  he  will  nevertheless  be  firm  in  the  con- 
sciousness that  he  has  used  his  talents  well,  and 
will  come  to  the  realization  that  he  has,  in  some 
measure,  worked  hand  in  hand  with  the  eternal 
forces  that  govern  and  control  all  life,  not  only 
for  the  passing  day  but  forever. 


INDEX 


Accessories  in  portraiture,  257 
Aerial  perspective,   120 
Analytic  composition,  38 
Appreciation    of    art,    educa- 
tion required,  26 
Art,  definition,  15 
Artificial  light,  in  illustration, 

175 

in  portraiture,  254 
Atmosphere,  120,  139,  246,  283 

Backgrounds    in    portraiture, 

357,  270 
Balance,  50 

by  motion,  56 
Breadth  of  handling,  66 
Brigman,  Anne  W.,  106,  154 

Caricature,  basis  of,  69,  236 
Collier,  Catherine,  54,  283 
Color,     importance     in     pho- 
tography, 115 

in  portraiture,  243 

in  summer,  115,  117 

in  winter,  132,  140 

sensuous  appeal,  244 
Contrast,  80 
"  Croquemitaine,"  95 
Cubists,  21 

Da  Vinci,  Leonardo,  287 
Definition,  98 


Defoe,  Daniel,  27,  146 

Detail,  65 

Donatello,  16 

Dugmore,  A.  Radclyffe,  172 

Du  Maurier,  George,  150 

Emotions  expressible  by  pho- 
tography, 24,  25 

Entrance    and    exit    of    pic- 
tures, 69 

Estheticism,  37 
insufficiency  of,  18,  105 

Eugene,  Frank,  288 

Fine  arts,  definition,  15 

status    of   photography 

among,  20,  23 
Form,  intellectual  appeal  of, 

21,  244 

association    with    various 
emotions,  110 

Gainsborough,  288 

Gilpin,  Laura,  82,  279,  283 

Hals,  Frans,  179 
Height    of    camera   in    archi- 
tecture, 186 

in  portraiture  271 
Hill,  D.  O.,  250,  288 
Hiller,  Lejaren  a,  81,  166,  172, 

279,  283 
Hogarth,  "Line  of  Beauty,"  63 


313 


INDEX 


Horizon,  low  vs.  high,  112,  187 
Hurter    and    Driffield    curve, 

125,  198 

Hutchinson,  Eugene,  255,  288 
Hybrid  printing  mediums,  31 

Illusion  of  reality,  98 
Imagination,  36,  241 
Inspirational  photography,  103 
Intellectual  appeal  in  art,  21 
Interpretive  photography,  101 

Kasebier,  Gertrude,  106,   154, 
283,  288 

Key,  83 

in  landscape,  110,  114 
in  portraiture,  251,  280 
in  winter  scenes,  127,  131 

Leading  line,  53 
Lens,  type,  114,  123,  148,  185, 
209,  234,  262 

focal  length,  123,  184,  209 
Line, effects  of  different  types, 

58 

"Line  of  Beauty,"  63 
Literalness     of    photography, 

167,  242,  246 
"Lost  and  found"  outline,  285 

Macnaughtan,  W.  E.,  106 
Malory,  Sir  Thomas,  146 
Mark  Twain,  159 
Meissonier,  155 
Michelangelo,  16 
Millet,  J.  F.,  161 
Modification   of    photographs, 
20,  29,  30,  242,  263 


Nast,  Thomas,  107 
Non-halation  plate,  122,  187 
Nude,  143,  147 

Orthochromatic  plate,  120, 132, 

188,  209 
Outdoor  portraiture,  250,  259 

Panchromatic  plate,  120,  122, 
133,  187,  243,  254,  262 

Panoramic  camera,  279 

Pennell,  Joseph,  162 

Peter  the  Great,  92 

Pin-hole,  188 

Poe,  Edgar  Allan,  108 

Poore,  Henry  R.,  54,  278 

Posing,  268,  270,  272 
of  hands,  274 

Poster  effects,  135 

Post-Impressionists,  157,  160 

Printing  mediums,  30,  134, 191, 
192,  210,  245,  260,  301 

Racial  memories,  83,  94 
Raeburn,  288 
Raemakers,  Louis,  107 
Ray-filter,  120,  132,  188,  209, 

254 

Record  photography,  101 
Reflecting    camera,    124,    208, 

294,  301 

Rembrandt,  244,  280,  288,  297 
Repetition,  6T 
Repin,  Ilya,  160 
Retouching,  261 
Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  288 
Ruskin,  John,  138,  246 


314 


INDEX 


Sargent,  John  S.,  288 
Seeley,  George  H.,  135 
Sensuous  appeal  in  art,  21, 244 
Size  of  print,  99 
Shakespeare,  26, 108, 145 
Shaw,    George    Bernard,    125, 

148 

Snow,  esthetic  value  of,  86 
Spencer,  Herbert,  63 
Status  of  photography  among 

fine  arts,  20,  23 
Straight  photography,  18,  20, 


Struss,  Karl,  67,  172 
Suggestion  vs.  delineation,  149 
Synthetic  composition,  38 

Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  119 

Unity,  144,  162 

Velasquez,  179,  244,  288,  297 

Whistler,  J.  M.,  148,  199,  284, 

297 
White,  Clarence  H.,  165,  172, 

283,288 
White,  Edward  Lucas,  145 


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